Valencia MotoGP, Ricardo Tormo - Full Qualifying Results

Jorge Martin takes the final pole position of the season (and his third in a row) at the Valencia MotoGP finale, while Fabio Quartararo will start four places ahead of title rival Francesco Bagnaia.

Desperate for a front-row place, Quartararo pushed his Yamaha over the limit but ran wide on his final lap.

Bagnaia was 12th, last and having a few unstable moments under braking by the midway stage of the 15-minute shootout but salvaged a place on the third row on his final run.

Reigning champion Quartararo must win with Bagnaia finishing 15th or lower to snatch the title away from the Ducati star on Sunday.

• Valencia MotoGP, Ricardo Tormo - Free Practice (4) Results

Bagnaia's team-mate Jack Miller fell in his final qualifying for Ducati but kept a place on the front row, where he will start just behind Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez.

Pramac's Johann Zarco also brought out late yellow flags and was left ninth.

Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins progressed through Qualifying 1 but a fall for Enea Bastianini left the Gresini rider - battling Aleix Espargaro for third in the world championship - to start from 13th.

Raul Fernandez missed FP4 after being sent for further medical checks after a fall in FP3, but returned for qualifying.

For being slow on the line and disturbing Jorge Martin rider in FP3, Nakagami has a three-place grid penalty for the race.

MotoGP has its first title showdown since 2017 at Valencia this weekend, with Francesco Bagnaia 23-points clear of reigning champion Fabio Quartararo.

Bagnaia will be crowned Ducati’s first MotoGP champion since Casey Stoner in 2007, and Italy’s first since mentor Valentino Rossi in 2009, unless Quartararo wins the Valencia race and Bagnaia then fails to finish in the top 14.

The fight for third is much hotter contest with Aleix Espargaro and Enea Bastianini separated by just one point and Jack Miller also in mathematical contention (-23 points).

Aprilia holds a 5-point advantage over Yamaha for second place behind Ducati in the constructors’ standings, with Aprilia 28-points clear of Red Bull KTM for runner-up in the teams’ championship.

Valencia will be the final race for Suzuki, world champions with Joan Mir in 2020, which is leaving MotoGP.

Rookies Remy Gardner and Darryn Binder will be making their last MotoGP appearances before switching to WorldSBK and Moto2 respectively next season, when Cal Crutchlow will revert to Yamaha testing duties and RNF joins forces with Aprilia.

An official post-race test will be held at Valencia on Tuesday, when nine riders (including rookie Augusto Fernandez) will make their debut with new teams for 2023.

 

 

Valencian MotoGP full schedule (UK time)

 

 

Friday November 4

8am - Moto3 FP1

8.55am - MotoGP FP1

9.55am - Moto2 FP1

12.15pm - Moto3 FP2

13.10pm - MotoGP FP2

14.10pm - Moto2 FP2

Saturday November 5

8am - Moto3 FP3

8.55am - MotoGP FP3

9.55am - Moto2 FP3

11.35am - Moto3 Q1

12pm - Moto3 Q2

12.30pm - MotoGP FP4

13.10pm - MotoGP Q1

13.35pm - MotoGP Q2

14.10pm - Moto2 Q1

14.35pm - Moto2 Q2

Sunday November 6

8am - Moto3 warm-up

8.20am - Moto2 warm-up

8.40am - MotoGP warm-up

10am - Moto3 race

11.20am - Moto2 race

13.00pm - MotoGP race