The difficult conditions at Misano hit a large part of the grid but not Pol Espargaro, who used his years of Grand Prix experience to secure fourth on the grid for Sunday’s race with Repsol Honda team-mate Marc Marquez, who started in seventh .
A morning of light and constant rain meant that there was no chance of better conditions early in the morning on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the MotoGP field that was fighting for the Q2 passage on a wet track. Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro did exactly what they needed and showed their speed in the wet and set the fifth and sixth fastest times.
Espargaro’s Free Practice 4 was made difficult by the changing conditions. Most drivers only did a handful of laps on wet tires before returning to the pits to wait for the track to dry out further. Espargaro and his crew, who finished 18th and six seconds behind the fastest rider, knew they had a lot to show. When the track opened for Q2, conditions steadily improved and times fell.
Choosing to stay on the track during the second quarter, Espargaro was able to continuously assess the Misano circuit as conditions improved and his final flying lap was perfectly timed – a 1’33,313 that put him in just a few seconds behind brought the preliminary first row. A late lap from Marini pushed the # 44 into fourth place. Espargaro, on the other hand, secured his best starting position since his pole position at the British GP. Satisfied with his starting position, Espargaro wants to bring the fight to his rivals on Sunday.
Saturday in Italy turned out to be more complicated for Marc Marquez. He crashed in Free Practice 4 after switching to slicks. Although he walked away from the fall at Turn 15, Marquez did not return to the track during the last practice session. Q2 started with a tremendous moment for Marc Marquez, starting from his seat and almost over the handlebars before skillfully returning to the seat of his Honda RC213V to continue his run.
But a fall later in the session on Turn 6 would end Marquez’s day. Despite the problems, the # 93 drove to seventh place on the grid with 1’33.850. Starting a row behind his teammate, Marquez is confident of a stronger race but remains realistic with his expectations after a difficult day.