Miller claims sensational Misano MotoGP pole, Quartararo only eighth

Jack Miller will start the Misano MotoGP from pole after helping Ducati secure another front-row lockout. Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro could only manage the third row.
Jack Miller, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP, 3 September
Jack Miller, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP, 3 September

With wet tyres the preferred choice for most of the field, Miguel Oliveira instead went with a medium front and soft rear tyre. 

Struggling for pace on wets, Quartararo was quickly overtaken by Bagnaia as riders soon headed back to pit lane for slick tyres. 

Making the most of his early gamble, Oliveira was setting red sector after red sector as he went to the top of the timingsheets.

As most of the field returned to pit lane, Bagnaia and Quartararo surprisingly stayed out for an extra lap before finally making the switch. 

As Marco Bezzecchi moved Oliveira down to second place, an even better lap was coming from Miller…

The factory Ducati rider gained almost five tenths in the final sector in order to go clear of the Italian by nearly eight tenths. 

As lap times continued to improve, Bastianini, Bezzecchi, Miller and Bagnaia all spent time atop the leaderboard.

However, the rider with the most consistent pace was Bastianini who had a response every time he lost provisional pole. 

Miller then set the first sub 1m 32s lap of the session which proved too much for the competition to beat.

Bagnaia got very close, as did Bastianini, however, both riders lost time in the final sector to Miller.

A flurry of fast laps from Bezzecchi, Luca Marini and Vinales helped relegate Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro to the third row of the grid.  

Mooney VR46 Ducati delight in Misano MotoGP Q1

With Ducati so far dominating the Misano MotoGP weekend, expectation was high for the likes of Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, all of whom needed to advance through Q1. 

Luca Marini, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP, 2 September
Luca Marini, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP, 2 September

And following the opening flurry of hot laps all three riders were at the top of the leaderboard, with Martin fastest. 

Alex Marquez suffered an early crash at turn three before hurrying back to pit lane. 

Bezzecchi then jumped ahead of Martin as Fabio Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder moved ahead of Marini for fourth (P14) and fifth (P15). 

With just over six minutes remaining of Q1, rain flags were deployed around the Misano circuit. 

Despite the light rain Marini was setting personal best sectors before coming across the line to go second behind Bezzecchi. 

As the rain intensified, Martin was seen showing frustration after narrowly missing the window to set a quick lap - the last two minutes were too wet for any rider to improve.

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