Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia continued his winning ways on Saturday afternoon by securing pole for the San MarinoGP at Misano.

A powerful and record-breaking 1’31.065 lap secured the celebrations by a quarter of a second, as the AragonGP victor was joined by his Lenovo teammate Jack Miller on the front row. The Desmosedici proving its dominance despite the varied conditions across the Italian weekend so far, with the Pramac duo of Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco continuing the trend behind on row two.

“I’m very happy about today,” Bagnaia said “because one week ago we were in Aragon, with a great, great feeling and today is the same. I have two weeks already where I start and everything is going so well because I found very well with the bike, very comfortable, everything is okay.

“Also, in the wet in FP2 I was feeling great with the bike,” he continued. “Last time we rode in the wet I was struggling a bit more in the first part of the sessions but not yesterday. So we are ready, we are prepared for both conditions and the FP4 was great also. So, I think we are prepared for a nice battle again.”

When questioned on the mixed forecast for tomorrow’s 27-lap race, the Italian rider was adamant that he would prefer dry conditions come Sunday, despite his title rival Fabio Quartararo obviously struggling in Friday’s wet conditions.

“I prefer dry, for sure,” the 24-year-old confirmed. “Wet is more critical, and it’s more easy to make mistakes. Also because this track have a not really great level of grip, so it’s better dry.

“I know that in wet, we have more opportunity to close the gap but I think that 53 points are still a lot, and I have to continue gaining points to Fabio,” he elaborated. “I’m sure that tomorrow will be a nice battle between me and him but also the other riders of Ducati, Jack had a great pace, Rins also, so we have to see. I would like to start like in Aragon, to make my pace and see what will happen in the last part of the race.

“For sure, the motivation was higher after my first win, but also, it’s always special to come here at my home Grand Prix. So is a mix of the two things that have helped me to arrive here with a lot of motivation. I did a lot of laps this year, in this track with the Panigale bike and every time I enjoy a lot to ride here.

“Is not an easy track, was one of the worst for me before starting to practice with the [VR46] Academy, and now is one of my favourites. I really like to ride here, not just because I like the track but because it’s a really technical track, and we are in front of our fans. So the motivation was very high, and I was ready to arrive here and to be fast like we are doing. I’m just very, very concentrated on the race of tomorrow, and I would like to try to enjoy the people in the grandstand cheering with us.”