BAGNAIA EDGES OUT MILLER AGAIN

For the fifth race in succession Francesco Bagnaia took pole position in MotoGP, this time at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal, edging out his Australian teammate Jack Miller once again.

The lap record was broken by several riders in Q2 and once again it was the factory Ducati men who were fastest and will start 1-2 on the grid for tonight’s race.

A fortnight ago it ended in disaster for the Ducati duo, a tyre gamble backfired and saw them both crash out of the race.

Last night Bagnaia set a 1m 38.725s time to take pole position for the fifth race in a row, this time by just over a tenth of a second.

Aussie Miller was just 0.104s slower than his teammate and briefly held the top spot.

For the first time ever, 2020 MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir qualified on the front row on his factory Suzuki.

Over the course of his short MotoGP career Mir has scored 12 podium finishes, but has not started any of his 48 races from the front row of the grid.

Although he qualified on the front row, Mir was furious with Alex Marquez for impeding him at Turn 1.

Mir was the only non-Ducati rider in the top five with rookie Jorge Martin pipping his Pramac Ducati teammate Johann Zarco by just 0.002s.

Zarco had to progress through Q1 and with limited tyres remaining stuck it on the middle of row two.

Despite Honda missing its star man Marc Marquez who has won the last two MotoGP races, Pol Espargaro stood up to the plate, qualifying in sixth position just over 0.25s off pole.

A fortnight after taking his maiden MotoGP title, and with the pressure off Fabio Quartararo did not perform.

Fabio Quartararo qualified seventh – Image: Motorsport Images

The Frenchman was visibly disappointed qualifying in seventh place, only the third time all season that he will not start on the front row.

LCR Honda rider Alex Marquez was ninth ahead of Quartararo’s factory Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli.

An impressive day in the office sees the FIM World Superbike bound Iker Lecuona qualify as the leading KTM rider in 10th, showing that his impressive speed in practice 4 was no fluke.

Alex Rins could not match his Suzuki teammate Mir in qualifying and will start from 11th ahead of Luca Marini who crashed early in Q2.

Zarco and Lecuona progressed into Q2, while Enea Bastianini had to start from 13th, missing out on a spot by 0.112s.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was next ahead of Danilo Petrucci on the Tech 3 KTM.

In his penultimate MotoGP qualifying session Valentino Rossi qualified in 16th ahead of home hero Miguel Oliveira.

Maverick Vinales will start in 17th from Brad Binder, replacement Honda rider Stefan Bradl, Andrea Dovizioso and Takaaki Nakagami who crashed out early in Q1.

For more of the latest MotoGP news pick up the current issue of Auto Action. Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.