VINALES CLAIMS ANOTHER POLE AT MISANO
Maverick Vinales claims another pole at Misano – Photo: LAT
As he did one week ago Maverick Vinales took pole position at the Misano World Circuit in MotoGP, inheriting first when Francesco Bagnaia had his fastest lap time deleted.
By DAN McCARTHY
Six riders bettered Vinales’ pole position time from seven days ago, however it was ‘Top Gun’ that stole the show once again.
The factory Yamaha rider set a 1m 31.077s time to take pole position, pipping Aussie Jack Miller by just 0.076s.
Pramac Ducati rider Miller was forced to make his way through Q1, and despite setting the fastest time to progress into Q2, Miller was pushed to the limit.
After making it through to the final segment, Miller left his run until very late on, a stellar lap vaulted from 12th into second position in the final 90s.
Former Championship leader and Petronas Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo could only achieve third on the grid. Despite qualifying on the front row Quartararo admitted that he was lucky after nearly falling off his Petronas Yamaha.
Factory KTM rider Pol Espargaro made it three manufacturers in three top four, and crucially just 0.005s faster than Italian Bagnaia.
Bagnaia set the first ever 1m 30 time at the Misano World Circuit on a motorbike, however Bagnaia was found to have time exceeded track limits on his final lap and had the time deleted
South African Brad Binder qualified in a MotoGP career high sixth position on the second row for the first time, with the seven-time premier class world champion Valentino Rossi in seventh.
Last weekend’s race winner Franco Morbidelli was unable to qualify higher than eighth and will start just in front of the factory Ducati pair.
In ninth position was Danilo Petrucci, the popular Italian qualified just 0.007s faster than his teammate and championship leader Andrea Dovizioso.
Factory Suzuki rider Joan Mir will start from 11th, just ahead of Takaago Nakagami who rounded out all 12 Q2 riders.
A number of notable Q2 absentees includes Johann Zarco and Miguel Oliveira who start from 14th and 15th respectively.
Alex Rins on the second factory Suzuki nearly took a podium seven days ago, in qualifying one-week later the Spaniard’s qualifying form escaped him he will start from a devastating 18th position.
The second MotoGP race at Misano gets underway at 10.00pm AEST and can be viewed live on Fox Sports 506.
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