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High Five: Quartararo defeats Miller for fifth straight pole
El Diablo is unstoppable in Catalunya, but Miller drives him close to Q1 despite a fall and a trip
Saturday 5th June 2021
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was definitely the favorite to take pole at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, but the Frenchman was Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) despite a crash in Q2 and a. ultimately close driving through Q1, managed to finish the session just 0.037 back. Nonetheless, it is the fifth straight pole for El Diablo – the first time since Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in 2014 and the first time since Jorge Lorenzo in 2010 that a Yamaha rider has done it. It’s a French party in the front row in Catalonia again in third place, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) as the top driver of the independent team in third place.
Q1
In Q1, the fireworks started early as Miller tried to get through and with Marc Marquez as company rolling down the pit lane, this time around the Aussie was asked for a towing service rather than his usual taxi service. The answer? Get on with the work, but not before you rub your fingers together on number 93 in a perfectly timed “It’ll cost you” gesture on your way out of the box.
In the end, it wasn’t like that as Miller was the fastest and Marquez was briefly second as he followed the Ducati lap, but the next man on the train, Marquez ‘teammate Pol Espargaro, crossed the line … and beat him with just 0.011 KO. Marquez was left in Q1, with Miller and the number 44 Honda on the way.
Q2
It didn’t take Quartararo long to find his way to the top of the timesheet in the second quarter, his 1: 39.351 being the first benchmark anyone tried to beat. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) made it on his second flying lap, but Quartararo put the gauntlet on his next flyer – a 1: 38.853, the best of the weekend. The Frenchman’s lead after the first rounds was 0.421, with Morbidelli and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in the provisional front row.
For El Diablo, however, this was far from over. His competitors found speed in their second runs when Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), teammate Miguel Oliveira, Zarco and Miller took turns in the provisional front row, with Miller in particular posing a threat at just 0.037 seconds.
The Australian then slammed into a red sector in the first part of his next lap, but that was all she wrote when he then highsidered at Turn 3, driver ok. This meant that Quartararo’s final sprint also ended with yellow flags, although some fell by the wayside as the lap progressed.
Zarco, pushing past Binder on the updated Turn 10, was one of them and he shot to P3 on his final flying lap, displacing Oliveira from the front row by just 0.050.
The grid
Quartararo, Miller and Zarco therefore have the clearest view of Turn 1, with Oliveira leading Morbidelli’s second row by another tiny margin of just 0.010. Viñales completes row 2.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) starts his home race in seventh place, Binder as partner in P8 and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in ninth place with just 0.016.
The reigning champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) meanwhile starts in tenth place. But the 2020 Catalan GP podium finisher has made rapid strides in the past and has more podiums from the top two rows than on them. So will these statistics continue in Catalunya?
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) starts P11 after a Q2 crash and Pol Espargaro P12 after the same, driver okay.
This is the end of Saturday’s action in Barcelona, with half a second for the top ten on the grid. Quartararo has held the cards so far, but does anyone have an ace on Sunday? We’ll find out a little earlier at 13:00 (GMT +2) when the lights go out for the premier class at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.
Fabio Quartararo: “I’m really happy and I feel great on the bike. In FP4 we wanted to try both tires, medium and hard, and they both work well, but I don’t know which one to choose. The feeling is similar and the lap times are really good. Really happy, qualifying was great, I had a little more on the last lap, but there was a yellow flag. But I’m really happy and I think we can have a great race tomorrow. The question mark is just which tire we will use. “