On Saturday before the sixth race of the 2024 season, Espargaro earned his first pole position of the year with a new fastest lap of 1 minute and 38.190 seconds in an exciting Q2 session.
At first, it seemed like the reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia, would secure pole position on his factory Ducati, as he had the best time at the end of the first set of runs in Q2. However, Espargaro’s lightning-fast final lap snatched the pole position from Bagnaia by just 0.031 seconds, while Raul Fernandez from Trackhouse Racing took third place.
Unfortunately, championship leader Jorge Martin crashed his Pramac Ducati towards the end of the session and ended up in seventh place. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez from Gresini failed to advance from Q1 for the second time in a row, forcing him to start from the 14th position for both the sprint and the grand prix this weekend.
During the 15-minute Q2 session, Enea Bastianini from Ducati set the benchmark lap time of 1 minute and 40.335 seconds. However, Fabio Di Giannantonio had already set a faster time of 1 minute and 38.208 seconds in the Q1 session, which eliminated Marquez.
In the early stages of Q2, Martin set a time of 1 minute and 38.401 seconds, taking the lead by 0.374 seconds. But Pedro Acosta from Tech3 GasGas quickly surpassed this with a time of 1 minute and 38.369 seconds. Shortly after, Bagnaia took control with a time of 1 minute and 38.221 seconds.
As the session progressed, Bagnaia’s pole position seemed secure, especially after Martin’s crash at Turn 2 with just over two minutes remaining. However, Espargaro managed to climb to second place on his penultimate lap and then secured pole position with an impressive final lap.
Although Fernandez’s initially canceled lap for setting it under yellow flags, Trackhouse Racing earned its first front-row start in MotoGP as his lap time was reinstated, placing him in third position.
Binder, Acosta, and Di Giannantonio make up row two, followed by Martin in seventh. Yamaha’s Alex Rins and KTM’s Jack Miller start behind Martin, completing row three.
The top twelve grid positions are completed by Morbidelli, Bastianini, and Vinales. In Q1, Alex Marquez outpaced his brother Marc, who starts in 14th. Quartararo struggled and starts in 17th, while Zarco, despite a crash, is the top Honda rider in 18th.
