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Lewis Duncan

MotoGP British GP: Bezzecchi takes pole despite crash, Quartararo last

VR46 Ducati rider Bezzecchi set the pole time with just over three minutes to go in an exceedingly wet Q2 with a 2m15.359s, before he crashed at the Vale chicane while on another quick flying lap.

That time proved enough, though, with his nearest rival KTM’s Jack Miller 0.270 seconds adrift as Alex Marquez brushed off a crash to complete the front row.

In a fall-filled Q2, championship leader Francesco Bagnaia also got caught out by the conditions, though the factory Ducati rider held onto fourth.

Sodden conditions led to early drama in qualifying, as 2021 British GP winner Quartararo failed to get out of Q1 and will start last on the grid.

A scare for Quartararo at the Vale chicane midway through the 15-minute session hindered his progress, and could do nothing to close the seven-second deficit to his Q1-topping Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli.

Marc Marquez also failed to follow Morbidelli and Tech3 rookie Augusto Fernandez through to Q2, the Honda rider lining up 14th after his final effort challenged for a top two place but fell short.

Conditions failed to improve as Q2 got under way, with KTM’s Miller setting a stunning early pace of 2m15.629s to go 1.5s clear of the field.

Bagnaia cut this advantage to his former team-mate to 0.466s a few moments later before throwing his Ducati at the Brooklands scenery seconds later.

Alex Marquez was the next rider to edge closer to Miller, cutting his lead to 0.142s, before the rear-end of his Gresini Ducati came round on him on the way into Abbey with just under six minutes to go.

Miller’s time was finally deposed by Bezzecchi with just over three minutes remaining, the third-placed rider in the standings with a 2m15.359s.

Setting the timing screens ablaze on his next flying lap, Bezzecchi’s Q2 came to a premature end when he crashed at Vale.

But it proved inconsequential, with Bezzecchi holding firm for his second pole of the season ahead of Miller and Marquez.

Bagnaia heads row two from Augusto Fernandez, who achieved his best-ever MotoGP qualifying result, while Luca Marini completed the top six on his VR46 Ducati despite a late tumble.

Jorge Martin was seventh on the Pramac Ducati from Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and the sister Pramac bike of Johann Zarco, with Brad Binder (KTM), Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) rounding out the top 12.

Enea Bastianini was just 0.087s outside of progressing into Q2 and will start 13th on his factory Ducati from Marc Marquez and the returning Pol Espargaro on the Tech3 KTM.

Miguel Oliveira was 16th on the RNF Aprilia from LCR Honda stand-in Iker Lecuona, Gresini’s Fabio DiGiannantonio – who suffered a Turn 1 crash – and Honda’s Joan Mir.

The field was completed by Raul Fernandez (RNF), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR) and Quartararo.

MotoGP British GP - Qualifying results

Q2 results:

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Italy M. Bezzecchi Marco Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 5 2'15.359   156.676  
2 Australia J. Miller Jack Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 7 +0.270 0.270 156.364  
3 Spain A. Marquez Alex Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 6 +0.412 0.142 156.201  
4 Italy F. Bagnaia Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 4 +0.736 0.324 155.829  
5 Spain A. Fernandez Augusto Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 7 +0.742 0.006 155.822  
6 Italy L. Marini Luca Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 5 +0.793 0.051 155.764  
7 Spain J. Martin Jorge Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 6 +0.913 0.120 155.626  
8 Spain M. Viñales Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 7 +0.958 0.045 155.575  
9 France J. Zarco Johann Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 5 +1.302 0.344 155.183  
10 South Africa B. Binder Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 7 +1.318 0.016 155.165  
11 Italy F. Morbidelli Franco Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 6 +1.526 0.208 154.930  
12 Spain A. Espargaro Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 7 +2.047 0.521 154.342  

Q1 results:

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Italy F. Morbidelli Franco Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 6 2'15.884   156.071 300
2 Spain A. Fernandez Augusto Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 7 +1.001 1.001 154.930 291
3 Italy E. Bastianini Enea Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 6 +1.088 0.087 154.831 301
4 Spain M. Marquez Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 7 +1.459 0.371 154.413 289
5 Spain P. Espargaro Pol Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 7 +2.234 0.775 153.546 287
6 Portugal M. Oliveira Miguel Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 6 +2.380 0.146 153.384 297
7 Spain I. Lecuona Iker Lecuona Repsol Honda Team 27 Honda 7 +2.949 0.569 152.756 294
8 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 5 +3.298 0.349 152.373 300
9 Spain J. Mir Joan Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 7 +3.483 0.185 152.170 288
10 Spain R. Fernández Raúl Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 6 +5.244 1.761 150.272 298
11 Japan T. Nakagami Takaaki Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 6 +6.457 1.213 148.991 288
12 France F. Quartararo Fabio Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 5 +7.047 0.590 148.376 296
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