SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO (ARGENTINA), April 3: A stunning Saturday afternoon Q2 lap from Aleix Espargaro handed Aprilia Racing their first MotoGP pole position – and the Spaniard’s first pole position since the 2015 Catalan GP.
It was a magnificent day for the Noale factory at the Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina and joining Espargaro on the front row are a pair of GP22 Ducatis in the form of Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), as we witness some shock qualifying results in Termas de Rio Hondo.
Before the pole position fight got underway, an almighty battle to get into Q2 unfolded, featuring World Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP), pre-season title favourite Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Indonesian GP race winner Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Qatar GP podium finisher Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and more very, very fast riders.
Halfway through Q1, Pecco was last. The Italian was yet to set a clean lap and had a mountain to climb if Q2 beckoned, and he was visibly frustrated. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Bastianini were the top two after the first set of flying laps had been landed as the riders ventured out for their second attempts – a Pecco came out swinging. Nakagami returned to P1, before Pol Espargaro shot to first place with two minutes to go.
Bagnaia and Bastianini needed to find time on their last laps, but it wasn’t to be – both were out of qualifying in Q1.
Pol Espargaro earned a fantastic P4 after coming through Q1, the Spaniard edged out compatriot Maverick Viñales by less than a tenth – that P5 for Top Gun is his best qualifying result in Aprilia Racing colours.
Quartararo cut a frustrated figure at the end of qualifying, the Frenchman will start from P6 ahead of Rins, Mir, Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Nakagami, who rounds out the top 10. Miller finished P11. However, for riding slowly on the racing line and disturbing Quartararo’s lap, Miller has been handed a three-place grid penalty.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had to settle for P12, but that becomes P11 after Miller’s penalty.
