The world champion, another Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), will start from row two in fifth, Spaniard Alex Espargaro (Aprilia) completes row one for the third time.
So MotoGP continues its tradition of delivering unexpected results. If this is the seventh pole of Zarco’s career in MotoGP, he is not necessarily who was expected to be the best Ducati rider this weekend.
“I wasn’t expecting such a good lap,” Zarco himself admitted. Take advantage of the dry track as good weather returns as free practice runs on a wet track on Friday and Saturday.
“It was tough conditions with puddles and we were wondering which tires to use in the last training session. We were finally able to use the dry tires in qualifying and we did very well.”
The world championship leader after four races, Italian Ina Bastianini (Ducati Grisini) has completely missed his qualifications and will start 18th on Sunday.
At the age of 31, Zarco has never won a first class race after winning the Moto2 World title twice (2015 and 2016).
Quartararo “Very happy”
Quartararo considered himself ‘very happy’, explaining ‘we’ve found improvements’, while lamenting not being able to complete a final lap faster due to yellow flags appearing after another competitor went down.
He opined that “the top five really have the potential to get on the podium tomorrow (Sunday)”, considering that the chances of other pilots like the six-time champion should not be underestimated either. From the Spanish scientist Marc Marquez.
Difficult conditions hurt many favourites. Besides Bastianini crashing in the first part of qualifying, Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) crashed hard in the first quarter apparently hurting himself. He was taken to the department medical center, however, no fracture was detected, but he was taken to a nearby hospital for further examinations.
Unlucky Mark
Marc Marquez (Honda) was in contention for first place but the fastest lap was canceled due to teammate and compatriot Paul Espargaro crashing into the last corner. Finally ranked ninth, just ahead of Paul Espargaro.
During one of the morning’s training sessions, the Marquis crashed again, landing on his head. A victim of several accidents in recent months, he has already been forced to miss two Grand Prix races this year due to vision problems.
The slight disappointment comes from local stage Miguel Oliveira (KTM) who was very fast during training but in the end only finished 11th. “I don’t think the starting line is a good indicator of the outcome of tomorrow’s race…because of me,” he said.
In Moto2, Spaniard Aron Canet (Kalex) will start in pole position.
