Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo will start the opening MotoGP race of 2020 from pole position after leading qualifying this afternoon with another outright lap record.
The Frenchman set a new fastest-ever lap in free practice three this morning but bettered it with a 1’36.705 to secure top spot. Maverick Vinales put his factory M1 in second place with a 1’36.884 with reigning champion Marc Marquez third.
It was disaster, however, for the Suzuki team as Alex Rins suffered his second crash of the day - the first coming qualifying one - and has been ruled out of action with a dislocated shoulder..
As the track temperature scorched to 55°C, Quartararo and the Honda riders opted for hard front/soft rear options while the other Yamaha men and the Ducatis went soft all round.
Quartararo laid down the first marker with a 1’37.064 with Pecco Bagnaia and Vinales in second and third places.
Marquez then raised the bar with a 1’37.006 as Jack Miller inserted himself into the mix with a 1’37.453 for third place.
The reigning champion then dropped under the 1’37s barrier with a 1’36.877 but that lasted only a lap as Vinales chopped in a 1’36.844. Marquez had no answer and his best of 1’36.862 was only enough for second at that point.
Quartararo then strapped on some new boots and took his second Jerez pole in a row, lowering the lap record by another tenth of a second.
Miller was on for top-three time with his final lap but crashed out just before Rins went down. Bagnaia starts from the head of row two with team-mate Miller next to him and Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in sixth place.
Pol Espargaro came through from qualifying one to occupy seventh with the first of the works Ducatis in eighth courtesy of Andrea Dovizioso.
Rins has ninth place but he will not occupy it with Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi next along. Joan Mir will be disappointed with his qualifying after his free practice performances today as he starts in 12th place.
Rookie Brad Binder only just missed a Q2 slot and starts in 13th with Danilo Petrucci and Taka Nakagami completing the top 15.
