MotoGP: Marco Bezzecchi claims pole in extremely wet conditions

Marco Bezzecchi is on pole position in MotoGP with a crash in Qualifying.

Marco Bezzecchi claims pole position after a thrilling wet session at Silverstone after setting a lap time of 2’15.359. The Italian set five laps during the session and suffered a crash during the session. Bezzecchi destroyed his motorcycle with just one minute remaining after locking the front.

Jack Miller ended the session in second, continuing an impressive weekend for the KTM rider at Silverstone. Miller was just two-tenths from Bezzecchi and was down in the speed traps during qualifying.

Alex Marquez rounded out the front row of the grid, setting just six laps on the Gresini Ducati. Marquez had no problem with his straight-line speed and was the fastest bike through the speed traps. The Spaniard had his own crash at turn one, with Alex Marquez running to his second bike.

Francesco Bagnaia had Champions ride in qualifying and built into the session, during the extremely wet conditions. Bagnaia had a crash with six minutes to go, leaving the Italian to run back to the pits.

The rookie, Augusto Fernandez ended qualifying in fifth position, continuing to impress onboard the GASGAS machine. He ended the session ahead of Luca Marini who was eight-tenths from his teammate at the top. Marini lost the rear and highsided the minutes after Alex Marquez at turn one.

Jorge Martin ended the session as the top Pramac Ducati, qualifying in seventh position ahead of Vinales. Maverick Vinales had a highside during yesterday’s Practice session and looked secondhand but was one second from pole.

Johann Zarco completed just five laps during qualifying and out-qualified Brad Binder who rounded out the top 10. Franco Morbidelli was one second faster in Qualifying One but could only manage 11^th in Qualifying Two.

Marc Marquez was down in 14^th, continuing to struggle onboard the Repsol Honda and was unable to make it into Qualifying Two. However, Marquez was still the top Honda rider with Iker Lecuona in 17^th.

Fabio Quartararo struggled during Qualifying and will start the Sprint and the Main Race in last position. The 2021 World Champion was seven seconds from pole position and struggled in the wet.

Quatararo said: “This was not the start of the day we expected. This morning in FP2, the feeling in the wet was bad, and we didn’t make a step. I made a mistake in Q1 and then I had to stop at the box. Then the tyre was cold, and I was able to do only one lap. We will try to make a step now to improve the feeling, and then we will see the result.“

Image credit: motogp.com