Maverick Vinales has found his stride at Misano; for the second straight race weekend in a row, the Yamaha rider has set the fastest lap in qualifying and will start Sunday’s event from pole position.
But his reign wasn’t guaranteed; the field looked dangerously quick, especially after Francesco Bagnaia, who set a blisteringly fast pace, pipped him at the top of the field. But his last fast lap was thrown out for exceeding track limits. Fabio Quartararo looked set to outpace them both, but a wobble in the final corner saw him come up short.
It was a difficult session for plenty of drivers. Johann Zarco had pace and was set to go fastest when he lost control of his bike and slid through the gravel. Alex Rins simply didn’t have the pace necessary to compete, settling down in 18th place. Aleix Espargaro looked to be heading into Q2 when a crash left him mired in the rear of the field.
“I feel quite good. I feel the bike has been good, much better than the other race. We made an improvement from last weekend, which makes me much more calm for tomorrow,” Vinales said after qualifying.
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“We’ve just been working all weekend… trying to understand what the goal is for the race,” Jack Miller, second place qualifier, said. “We started behind the eight ball. We started the hard way, but we’re here.’
“I wanted to be on the front row, but I didn’t expect to be that fast with the mistakes that I [did]. Really happy,” third place qualifier Fabio Quartararo said.
Here’s your top 10:
1. Maverick Vinales
2. Jack Miller
3. Fabio Quartararo
4. Pol Espargaro
5. Francesco Bagnaia
6. Brad Binder
7. Valentino Rossi
8. Franco Morbidelli
9. Danilo Petrucci
10. Andrea Dovizioso