It’s a day of celebration for Aprilia! Aleix Espargaró gave the Italian team its first pole position in the MotoGP category, coming close to the absolute record of the Termas de Río Hondo track. A great emotion also for the Spanish driver, seven years following his last pole.
Q1 saves two Honda and pulls out Bagnaia and Oliveira
Barely time to catch his breath following the second hour of free practice, and it was already qualifying time for the MotoGP riders. The 14 slowest drivers in the total of EL1 and EL2 clashed during the quarter of an hour of Q1 to try to win the two repechage tickets involved, allowing them to claim a place on one of the first four rows of the starting grid.
And there was no shortage of big customers! Enea Bastianinileader of the championship, Miguel Oliveirawinner of the last Grand Prix to date, Pol Espargarórecently battling for victory in Qatar, Takaaki Nakagamiauthor of the best time of EL1, or even Pecco Bagnaiareigning Vice-World Champion but visibly somewhat annoyed at this stage of a weekend which does not highlight him… Everyone began this session with the same ambitions.
The first salvo of Qualifying turned in favor of Nakagami and Bastianini, who took the lead separated by only 14 thousandths, relegating Oliveira or Morbidelli to more than three tenths. After his first flying lap, the situation was quite different for Bagnaia, stuck in last position, almost two and a half seconds from the best time! Returning to the pits, the Ducati rider remobilized and sought an improvement of four seconds (!) on his return to the track to propel himself into the lead and get his session back on track.
It was not, however, a decisive round. At the same time, Marco Bezzecchi moved up to second place, then Takaaki Nakagami and Pol Espargaró took turns taking the lead, pushing Bagnaia out of the Q2 qualifying zone once more. Bastianini drove the point home by inserting himself between Nakagami and Bagnaia less than two minutes from the conclusion. After two last unsuccessful attempts, the Ducati rider finally had to stick to this fourth time, synonymous with 14th place on the grid on Sunday.
No one was able to beat the time of 1’38″501 posted by Pol Espargaró, nor to interfere in the mouse hole of 22 small thousandths separating the Spaniard from Nakagami, second qualified driver for the final phase. qualifying Bastianini failed just 43 thousandths and Bagnaia 44 thousandths further back.
Distanced by three tenths, Franco Morbidelli will start from 15th position on Sunday, ahead of Miguel Oliveira who will share the sixth row with Marco Bezzecchi and Andrea Dovizioso.
GP d’Argentine MotoGP – Q1
Quartararo embarrassed by Miller, Aprilia in heaven
The two Hondas drafted in Q1 joined four Ducati, two Suzuki, two Aprilia, a KTM and a Yamaha, already qualified thanks to the combined classification of free practice. The GSX-RR of Joan Mir was missing when the session started, blocked in the pits by a technical problem. Soon, it’s the garage of Jack Miller who hastened to also intervene on the second machine of the Australian, who went to fault on his second flying lap.
This beginning of the session was much more serene at Aprilia, since Aleix Espargaró, already at the head of EL2, settled in first place. In 1’38″108, he held what was at this point the best time of the weekend, relegating George Martinsecond, to more than three tenths.
At this stage, Fabio Quartararo occupied third place, six hundredths behind the pilot Pramac, and Johann Zarco was sixth, tied with Mir, who finally entered the session. Not to help their respective situation, Quartararo was hampered by Miller as both entered the decisive phase of the time attack, an incident immediately placed under investigation by the stewards.
Meanwhile, the young guns didn’t wait long: Jorge Martín reached a stratospheric time of 1’37.839 which propelled him to provisional pole, while Luca Marini climbed to third place, 0″280 behind. But the veterans were not left out, and Aleix Espargaró, once more him, undertook to remind him by posting under the checkered flag a time of 1’37” 688!
This lap, five thousandths off the track record, gave Espargaró his third pole position, the first in seven years, and above all the first in MotoGP for this Aprilia team, which is decidedly launched towards the heights.
He will share the front row with Martín and Marini. In the little time attack game, Quartararo was pushed back to sixth place and will start behind Pol Espargaró and Maverick Viñales. The two Suzukis will start from the third row with Johann Zarco, ahead of the Nakagami-Miller-Binder trio.
GP d’Argentine MotoGP – Q2
