Advantage Bagnaia with sizzling Aragon pole

Aragon [Spain], September 18 (ANI): Francesco Bagnaia has given himself the best possible opportunity to take a fifth straight Moto GP win by qualifying on pole position in All Time Lap Record pace at the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon. Not only did Bagnaia take pole with a 1:46.069, just quicker than Jack Miller in a Ducati Lenovo Team one-two, but he is also set to start a full row ahead of his key World Championship rivals at MotorLand Aragon.
Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia Racing came from Q1 to take fourth on the grid, pending a possible visit to stewards, while Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha Moto GP could only manage sixth.
Enea Bastianini of Gresini Racing Moto GP bolted out of the blocks with a 1:46.580 on his initial flying lap in Q2 and that would still be the benchmark when the first runs came to an end. As the Aragon circuit went quiet at the midway point of the session, Bagnaia was second on a 1:46.633 and Miller - one of two with a soft Michelin slick on the front as well as the rear (the other being Alex Rins) - third on a 1:46.784. Quartararo was only seventh on a 1:46.952 and Aleix Espargaro sat 11th with a 1:48.742, but having reused a rear tyre after taking the longer route through qualifying.
Indian fans can catch all the action from Moto GP 2022 - Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon Main Race which will be live on Sunday.
Once Espargaro got a new soft Michelin slick onto the back of his RS-GP, he was able to go second-quickest on a 1:46.590. That became third when Bagnaia set the 1:46.069 - 0.253 seconds up on his year-old lap record - before Bastianini clocked a 1:46.313 and then Miller a 1:46.159. Those laps decided the front row - a Ducati lockout - and Espargaro would be classified fourth, although he is under investigation for potentially baulking Fabio Giannantonio of Gresini Racing MotoGP back in Q1.
Aragon is not a kind circuit on the Yamahas, so qualifying close to - preferably in front of - the Ducatis was imperative for Quartararo. It was clear that he was pushing hard to make up the deficit to Bagnaia and company when he was forced into a super save at Turn 2 on his penultimate lap, which ruined that flyer but gave 'El Diablo' a fighting chance. Quartararo was only 10th when the chequered flag came out and dug ever so deep with his final attempt, but the 1:46.802 was only able to move him up to sixth. Starting between Espargaro and Yamaha's Frenchman on Row 2 will be another Frenchman in Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), who also advanced from Q1 before setting a 1:46.646 in Q2.
Marco Bezzecchi of Mooney VR46 Racing Team heads up Row 3, from Jorge Martin of Prima Pramac Racing and Rins of Team Suzuki Ecstar, while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mates Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira are set to share Row 4 with Takaaki Nakagami of LCR Honda Idemitsu, who qualified 12th. Binder had been cleared of fractures in his right ankle after a crash late in FP3 but is due to be reviewed again now that qualifying is done.

With so many big names starting Q1, someone was bound to be disappointed and it turned out that Marc Marquez of the Repsol Honda Team would be one of them. He was quickest after the first runs on a 1:46.909 before Zarco went to the top on a 1:46.843 and then Aleix Espargaro usurped both of them with a 1:46.569. The eight-time World Champion was unable to improve and will therefore start 13th, sharing Row 5 with Luca Marini of Mooney VR46 Racing Team and Di Giannantonio.
Maverick Vinales of Aprilia Racing had his first crash of the year, the usual front-end wash-out at Turn 2, and is set to start 16th, alongside Alex Marquez of LCR Honda Castrol and Pol Espargaro of Repsol Honda Team. The latter also hit the deck, late in the Q1 session at Turn 5, and the yellow flag that his incident caused would have seen a faster lap from team-mate Marc Marquez, among others, scrubbed off anyway.
The rest of the grid, from 19th onwards, will be Cal Crutchlow of Yamaha RNF Moto GP Team, Franco Morbidelli of Yamaha Moto GP, Raul Fernandez of Tech3 KTM Factory Racing, Remy Gardner of Tech3 KTM Factory Racing and Darryn Binder of Yamaha RNF Moto GP Team, while Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar has withdrawn from the event due to pain in his right ankle persisting from his crash at the Austria GP. (ANI)