MotoGP: Pole for rookie Martin in Doha

Qualifying got underway on Saturday for the second round of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, the Grand Prix of Doha. Jack Miller entered qualifying as the fastest rider. 

Q1 saw Joan Mir go through to Q2 as the fastest rider, along with Miguel Oliveira, which is a step forward from where he, and KTM in general, were one week ago. 

The MotoGP rookies this year have been strong, and the expectations coming into the season were extremely high. Enea Bastianini’s 10th place last weekend, and Jorge Martin’s start to the race – his launch and also his opening laps – highlighted the high caliber talent that has entered the premier class in 2021. That talent was highlighted once more in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Doha, as Jorge Martin took a maiden pole position in just his second race for Pramac Ducati. It was an unthinkable result that will no doubt ramp the pressure up even more on the 2018 Moto3 World Champion, whose own expectations for tomorrow’s race will no doubt have just been significantly adjusted. 

Joining Martin on the front row will be Johann Zarco and Maverick Vinales, who are likely to be the favourites for the victory tomorrow, considering the strong pace of both. That they both start on the front row is, arguably, a blessing, but the reality is that even if Zarco was on row three he would probably be within one or two places of Vinales by turn one. 

There are two more Ducatis on row two, those of the factory team, with Jack Miller in fourth and Francesco Bagnaia, last week’s pole sitter, in sixth. Between them lies Fabio Quartararo. And, together, the first two rows will determine much of the outcome of the race. The Yamahas should have better pace and endurance than the Ducatis, but the Desmosedici’s speed off the line, and in a straight line in general, could have the potential to somewhat neutralise the pace of Vinales and Quartararo. 

Then, enter Suzuki. Both Alex Rins and Joan Mir will start from row three, in eighth and ninth, respectively. Aleix Espargaro will start ahead of them in seventh, and while the #41 should have a good pace, the Suzuki riders, in particular Rins, need to make sure they aren’t impeded too strongly in the first part of the race, so that they can have enough grip to fight those starting ahead of them at the end. 

It was a disappointing qualifying for Franco Morbidelli, who could only manage 10th. While his issues of last week seem to have been solved, the Italian still misses some of the speed of his factory Yamaha counterparts and will need to make a step in the warm up if he is to fight for the top positions tomorrow. Even then, starting down on row four will make things even more difficult for the #21, who is likely to go backwards off the line. 

Alongside Morbidelli on row four tomorrow will be Stefan Bradl and Miguel Oliveira, with both being the top riders of their brands. The similar characteristics of both bikes shows that both HRC and KTM will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes once the series returns to Europe in a couple of weeks.

Luca Marini was unfortunate to miss out on a first MotoGP Q2 appearance, as the #10 rookie was third fastest in Q1, just 0.008 seconds slower than Oliveira in second. The Italian will start from 13th, ahead of Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro who join him on the fifth row; while Takaaki Nakagami will head up row six from Danilo Petrucci and Brad Binder. 

Enea Bastianini reported on Friday that he did not have the same kind of feeling with his Desmosedici this weekend as he did last, when he was in the position of the aforementioned Marini after qualifying, and 10th, less than 10 seconds off the win, after the race. Things evidently did not improve much for the reigning Moto2 World Champion on Saturday, as the #23 could only manage ninth fastest in Q1, meaning he will start from 19th at the head of the seventh row. 

Joining Bastianini are two riders with more pressure on their shoulders, namely Iker Lecuona and Valentino Rossi who qualified 20th and 21st, respectively. 

For Lecuona, the pressure comes in the shape of Remy Gardner, who has started 2021 strongly in Moto2 and is expected to make the step up to MotoGP next season.

For Rossi, the pressure is present as a result of his chronic underperformance compared to his Yamaha stablemates – a pointless race tomorrow seems like a genuine possibility even without a mechanical or a crash, and when the other Yamahas are performing so well, it becomes difficult for the #46 to mount a defence against the people who say he should not be there at all. 

Only Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori will start behind Rossi on the grid, in 22nd place, and he has his own pressure, too, with the impending arrival of Andrea Dovizioso aboard the RS-GP in the coming weeks, and his expected assumption of race duties some time after that.