MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro takes pole at Jerez

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Aleix Espargaro won his first MotoGP pole position of the season at Jerez Saturday, and his first in front of his home crowd in Jerez.

In a Q2 session that saw light rain cause the top time change hands 14 times across 15 minutes, Aprilia’s Espargaro nailed his final lap to be one of the last across the line to start his last lap while conditions were at their best to produce a 1m37.216s.

As a result, Espargaro won pole by 0.221 seconds from KTM’s Jack Miller, while Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin completed the top three for the sprint race and grand prix.

Qualifying Results

Pos No./Rider Team Bike Session Time Behind Gap
1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing APRILIA Q2 1’37.216 0.000 0.000
2 43 Jack MILLER AUS Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q2 1’37.437 0.221 0.221
3 89 Jorge MARTIN SPA Prima Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1’37.458 0.242 0.021
4 33 Brad BINDER RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q2 1’37.532 0.316 0.074
5 1 Francesco BAGNAIA ITA Ducati Lenovo Team DUCATI Q2 1’37.557 0.341 0.025
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q2 1’37.583 0.367 0.026
7 88 Miguel OLIVEIRA POR CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team APRILIA Q2 1’37.596 0.380 0.013
8 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Prima Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1’37.616 0.400 0.020
9 10 Luca MARINI ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team DUCATI Q2 1’37.666 0.450 0.050
10 12 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Aprilia Racing APRILIA Q2 1’37.765 0.549 0.099
11 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU HONDA Q2 1’37.876 0.660 0.111
12 73 Alex MARQUEZ SPA Gresini Racing MotoGP DUCATI Q2 1’37.920 0.704 0.044
13 72 Marco BEZZECCHI ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team DUCATI Q1 1’36.578 (*) 0.085
14 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q1 1’36.793 (*) 0.300 0.215
15 49 Fabio DI GIANNANTON ITA Gresini Racing MotoGP DUCATI Q1 1’36.967 (*) 0.474 0.174
16 20 Fabio QUARTARARO FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q1 1’37.072 (*) 0.579 0.105
17 25 Raul FERNANDEZ SPA CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team APRILIA Q1 1’37.164 (*) 0.671 0.092
18 42 Alex RINS SPA LCR Honda CASTROL HONDA Q1 1’37.256 (*) 0.763 0.092
19 6 Stefan BRADL GER HRC Team HONDA Q1 1’37.297 (*) 0.804 0.041
20 36 Joan MIR SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q1 1’37.346 (*) 0.853 0.049
21 37 Augusto FERNANDEZ SPA GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 KTM Q1 1’37.753 (*) 1.260 0.407
22 94 Jonas FOLGER GER GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 KTM Q1 1’38.492 (*) 1.999 0.739
23 27 Iker LECUONA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q1 1’38.582 (*) 2.089 0.090
24 23 Enea BASTIANINI ITA Ducati Lenovo Team DUCATI P2 1’37.985 1.277

*Gap to fastest rider in Q1