JEREZ, Spain (Reuters) – Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo will start from pole position in the Spanish MotoGP on Sunday after setting a qualifying lap record of one minute and 36.705 seconds at Jerez on Saturday.
The Frenchman broke his own lap record previously set in third free practice to land ahead of Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Honda’s World Champion Marc Marquez in a hectic final session that saw three riders crash.
Suzuki’s Alex Rins crashed at Turn 11 and was rushed to the medical center, where a shoulder dislocation and fracture were confirmed before being rushed to the hospital.
“After the accident, Alex had severe pain in his right shoulder,” the Suzuki team said in a statement.
“He was taken to Clinica Mobile for an X-ray, where doctors found a fracture and dislocation and administered a mild sedative to relieve the pain.”
Pramac Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia finished fourth, while his teammate Jack Miller, who was fighting for pole on his final lap at Turn 11, will line up in the second row for Sunday’s race.
LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow missed fifth on the grid with a whisker and ended up 0.001 seconds behind Miller.
The race at Jerez is the first of the 2020 MotoGP season after a long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ed Osmond)