MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy — Francesco Bagnaia claimed
pole for the San Marino MotoGP with a new track record time during Saturday's
qualifying as the Italian aims for a second win in as many weeks.
اضافة اعلان
Ducati rider Bagnaia,
who won his first GP at Aragon last weekend, posted a blistering best time of
one minute, 31.065 seconds at Misano, finishing 0.249 seconds ahead of teammate
Jack Miller and 0.302 seconds in front of championship leader Fabio Quartararo.
"I'm really
happy, it's always good to start in pole," Bagnaia said to Sky Sport
Italia.
"It's since
Aragon that I've been really comfortable with the bike, we've hardly touched
anything since and everything's working perfectly."
It was a second
straight pole position for Bagnaia, as he aims to cut further Quartararo's lead
in the overall standings on Sunday.
The 24-year-old
trails Quartararo by 53 points and the French Yamaha rider will be surrounded
by Ducatis on the grid.
As well as Bagnaia
and Miller in the top two positions, Quartararo has Jorge Martin and Johann
Zarco behind him in fourth and fifth in the grid.
Six-time champion
Marc Marquez starts in seventh after crashing out while in fourth place with
four minutes remaining of Q2.
"There's a lot
of Ducatis around that one poor Yamaha," joked Miller to Sky.
"We're in a good
position, we've been strong all week.
"I'm looking
forward to the race, there's still a question mark about this Italian weather
we're getting here at the beach, but I think in all conditions we've got a good
rhythm, a good pace. The group feeling here is good."
There were glorious
conditions at Misano on Saturday after a wet Friday and there was a
entertaining battle between Bagnaia and Quartararo, 22, who is aiming for his first
MotoGP title.
Valentino Rossi
continued his poor weekend on home turf after sliding off the track early in
Q1, his second crash of the day in his penultimate visit to Misano before
retiring at the end of the season.
The motorcycling
legend will start from 23rd in the grid on Sunday, not what the motorcycling
legend's 23,000 adoring fans at Misano would have wanted to see.
However, he was
delighted at Bagnaia's efforts on Saturday, prompting questions as to whether
Rossi's former protege was the man to claim the mantle of the seven-time MotoGP
champion.
"I think taking
Vale's mantle is impossible," said Bagnaia to Sky.
"What he did is
impossible to repeat, because of his charisma and the way he made people
passionate about watching him.
"What I'd like to
inherit from him is the ability to transmit passion for motorcycling."
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