Quartararo claims first-ever Mandalika MotoGP pole, Marc Marquez crashes twice

Marc Marquez crashed twice on a disastrous outing.

While Franco Morbidelli was busy picking himself up from the gravel following his opening lap fall at turn 5, team-mate Fabio Quartararo matched Francesco Bagnaia’s top time from Q1 to go four tenths clear of the Italian. 

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Third after the initial set of time attacks was pole hound Jorge Martin, while Aleix Espargaro slotted into fourth. 

It had been a quiet weekend for the Aprilia rider until that point, but as is often the case in qualifying Espargaro was able to find serious pace. 

But then came a less impressive moment for the Spaniard, as Espargaro crashed at turn 10 which meant yellow flags were deployed.

Moments before Espargaro’s crash, Quartararo set a new benchmark time of 1:31.067s which ended up being good enough for pole by two tenths. 

Clinching a front row with their final efforts were Pramac Ducati riders Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco, while Brad Binder’s qualifying resurgence for KTM continued with P4, ahead of championship leader Enea Bastianini and Bagnaia. 

Qualifying One

Following a delay to the start of qualifying due to Alex Rins’ Suzuki catching fire in FP4 and thus bringing out a red flag, it was Marco Bezzecchi who immediately set the pace. 

The Mooney VR46 Ducati rider, who was second quickest in FP4, set a time of 1:36.695s to lead from team-mate Luca Marini, however, Francesco Bagnaia then went 0.028s quicker on his second flying lap. 

Marc Marquez was the first rider to set a lap, but after failing to improve at the start of his second effort, the Repsol Honda rider returned to pit lane for a bike swap, putting him out of sync with the rest of the field.

Things got considerably worse for Marquez at the start of his second run as he crashed at turn 13 - lost the front end as was the case during Friday’s FP2.

While that was happening, Bagnaia set a blindingly fast time of 1:31.219s to go four tenths clear of rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio. 

Marquez, who was immediately back on his feet following crash #1 of the day, rushed to the side of the track with the hope of getting back to pit lane. 

He did just. 

Marquez spent no time at all in his Honda box, instead choosing to head back out with immediate effect, begging the question could he have taken an extra breath and composed himself, as the 29 year-old flirted with disaster throughout his first flying lap. 

As he started his final effort, Marquez was all over the back of Takaaki Nakagami as he almost ran into the rear of the LCR man on the exit of turn eight. 

Marquez then lunged down the inside of the Japanese rider at turn 10, before sliding his way out of turn 11. 

While it looked spectacular, it was an obvious sign of desperation as it set him up with a narrow entry to turn 12 before seeing the front wash out from underneath him.

Not for the first time this weekend Marquez went barrel-rowing through the gravel. 

Both accidents saw Marquez take a heavy fall on his right shoulder, the same shoulder he broke in 2020, but luckily he seemed to be unhurt as a release of frustration ensued.

A disastrous end to day-two for the eight-time world champion, who had been on and well beyond the limit all session. 

There were late crashes for Bezzecchi and Joan Mir, with the latter starting Sunday’s Grand Prix from P18.