ESPARGARO TAKES HISTORIC POLE FOR APRILIA
Aleix Espargaro has made history in Argentina by securing Aprilia Racing’s first MotoGP World Championship pole position at Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo.
The Spaniard edged out Jorge Martin and Luca Marini, who both rode their Ducati machines onto the front row, as several frontrunning riders were knocked out of the running in Q1.
Pramac Racing rider Martin was just over a tenth off the pace, while Marini was 0.431s in arrears for Mooney VR46 Racing Team.
Pol Espargaro will start from P4, on the second row along with Maverick Vinales who achieved his best qualifying result on an Aprilia.
Defending champion Fabio Quartararo managed sixth, clearly disappointed with his performance.
Suzuki teammates Alex Rins and Joan Mir, Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Honda man Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top 10, all within 0.9s of the best time.
After running in second during Q2, Aussie Jack Miller slid to 11th in the timesheets due to a Turn 1 fall which disrupted his momentum.
Brad Binder will also be regretting a mistake at Turn 7 that cost him a better grid spot, settling for P12.
In Q1, standings leader Enea Bastianini, title fancy Francesco Bagnaia and Indonesian GP winner Miguel Oliveira all fought doggedly to earn their place in Q2. Ultimately, however, all failed to do so in a shock set of results.
Bastianini and Bagnaia will start from 13th and 14th, respectively, the former missing Q2 by just 0.043s.
Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was 15th, while Oliveira was 16th.
VR46 rookie Marco Bezzecchi was quicker than Andrea Dovizioso who will start 19th on his RNF Racing Yamaha.
LCR Honda rider Alex Marquez and Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio were listed next, while Raul Fernandez just beat out Aussie Tech3 teammate Remy Gardner. The pair will start from 21st and 22nd.
Darryn Binder and Marc Marquez’s Honda replacement Stefan Bradl will start from the rear of the grid.
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