MotoGP: Lap record, fourth straight pole for Quartararo in Mugello

As always, MotoGP qualifying was preceded by Free Practice 4. However, FP4 was delayed due to the accident in Moto3 Q2 with Jason Dupasquier, who was airlifted to Florence hospital. That meant that qualifying was delayed as well, and by the time it got underway there were some potentially threatening clouds in the vicinity that had the capability to upset some people’s weekends.

Q1 was a perfect example of how strong Marc Marquez’ brain is. He waited for Maverick Vinales on the first and second runs, and after Vinales blew the first lap and was only fifth, Marquez knew he couldn’t afford to back out of the second one. Vinales got angry, because whatever he did to try to shake the #93 Honda off his tail, he was unsuccessful. In the end, Vinales had two shots at it. His first lap put him top for less than a tenth of a second, as Marquez used the Yamaha’s tow to top the session. Vinales’ second lap would be all-important, as Aleix Espargaro was able to slot his Aprilia into second place. Vinales, though, still miffed by the games of Marquez, blew out the final corner when on a lap good enough to get him in the top two.

Q2 once again belonged to Fabio Quartararo, the Frenchman taking his fourth successive pole position in 2021. Additionally, the #20 Yamaha rider has almost unrivalled race pace. Of course, the power deficit of the YZR-M1 means Quartararo will need to work particularly hard in the corners to keep the other bikes at bay, particularly the Ducatis, and it is unlikely that a Yamaha, even starting from pole position, could out-drag a Desmosedici to turn one. But, Quartararo could not have done more today: pole and the lap record in Mugello.

Joining Quartararo on the front row will be two of his title rivals: Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco, who both leapt up into the top three with their final laps. The anticipation would be that the Ducati holeshot device, aerodynamics and horsepower will see one of Bagnaia and Zarco lead the way into San Donato tomorrow, and the #63 is one of the few riders who appears to have the kind of long-range consistency to challenge Quartararo over the full race distance. 

Aleix Espargaro will start from fourth place, having set an impressive time on his Aprilia. Until the late laps from Bagnaia and Zarco, Espargaro was looking at a first front row in almost six years. It wasn’t to be on this occasion, but once more Aprilia have proven their speed. Maybe a podium could be on the cards for the #41 tomorrow. 

Alongside Espargaro on row two will be Jack Miller and Brad Binder, who also looked like he would be starting on the front row before the late Ducati attack. The second KTM of Miguel Oliveira will start from seventh, ahead of the Suzuki duo of Alex Rins and Joan Mir, and Rins seems to be the rider for the Hamamatsu marque to back tomorrow if it hopes for a first victory of the season – his pace has been strong all weekend thanks to a new electronics package. 

On row four we find the slowest bike on the grid, that of Franco Morbidelli, who is forced to try to make up for losing over 20kph in the front straight at Mugello in the corners. While Morbidelli was able to do this successfully in practice, in qualifying it was a deficit he could not overcome, and so 10th was all he could manage. Alongside him on the fourth row will be the Repsol Honda pairing of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro.

On a weekend where he wanted to celebrate the birth of his daughter with a good result, no doubt, Maverick Vinales will start from 13th place. On a Yamaha, at Mugello, with that top speed deficit and that straight, it will be an almost impossible task for the #12 to rescue a decent result from Italy.

Joining the factory Yamaha on the fifth row will be Enea Bastianini and Takaaki Nakagami; while row six is an all-Italian affair with Michele Pirro (replacing the still-recovering Jorge Martin at Pramac) lining up ahead of Luca Marini and Danilo Petrucci. On row six, Valentino Rossi will start from a disappointing 19th, ahead of Iker Lecuona and Lorenzo Savadori; while Alex Marquez will start 22nd and last.