Italian MotoGP: Quartararo makes it four in a row in Mugello
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo looked smooth and easy as he lowered the lap record further on his way to his fourth pole in a row ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, round six of the championship.
The Monster Yamaha rider had the perfect line and no need of a tow as he powered to a new best of Mugello of 1m 45.187s. Yamaha still have use of their new holeshot device to improve starts this weekend come race day.
Quartararo took the time post-session to send well wishes to Jason Dupasquier, who was taken to hospital following his crash in Moto3 qualifying.
With lap records tumbling ahead of qualifying in every class, it was Francesco Bagnaia who had previously set the new benchmark in FP3 for MotoGP. The Italian came closest to the impeccable Frenchman, finishing 0.230s behind at both his and his Ducati team’s home race.
The qualifying session reflected the championship standings with Johann Zarco moving up to third from twelfth late on for Pramac after getting away from the muddle of riders looking for a slipstream.
Aleix Espargaro impressed by coming through Q1 with the top time and built on that to take his best qualifying result of the season for Aprilia in fourth, providing a strong showing for the manufacturer at their home race.
Arriving with back-to-back wins under his belt after success in Jerez and Le Man,s Jack Miller will be looking to make it three in a row from fifth on the grid with Ducati.
Brad Binder equalled the speed record in FP3 but couldn’t quite match that pace in qualifying. He was the lead KTM rider for Red Bull in sixth, just ahead of his team-mate Miguel Oliveira in seventh.
Alex Rins was the best of the Suzuki duo in eighth, outpacing reigning champion Joan Mir in ninth.
Franco Morbidelli pushed hard against his power deficit to complete the top ten on his 2019 Petronas Yamaha.
A late FP3 fall saw Maverick Vinales placed in Q1. Stalked all session by Marc Marquez as he used the fastest rider he could find as a marker, even a run through the pits was not enough to lose his shadow.
Finally free and on a lap full of red sectors, the Spaniard pushed too hard and ran wide leaving the factory Yamaha rider 3rd in the session and 13th on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Marquez tried the same move in Q2, slotting himself in behind Binder, but with less success - as the South African moved up to sixth, he gained less and only improved to eleventh. Slipstreaming ensured despite his shoulder woes he was top factory Honda with Pol Espargaro the last of the Q2 riders in twelfth.
Enea Bastianini held a progression place briefly. The Avintia Esponsrama rider ended up 14th after getting involved in the Vinales/Marquez tangle for a tow.
Taka Nakagami was also in with a shout of moving up to Q2, the Japanese rider was one place further back in fifth in the session for LCR Honda.
Winner of the last MotoGP visit to Mugello back in 2019, Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) was 18th overall.
Mugello hero Valentino Rossi also failed to make it into Q2. The Petronas Yamaha rider struggled at turn one every lap but made minor improvements to climb to ninth for 19th on the grid.
