Luca Marini will start from pole position in the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix races. The Italian was the strongest in Saturday’s qualifying, setting a new lap record at Losail with 1m51.762s.
After the initial laps, Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) led, with Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) 0.164s behind. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) held the third position.
Following a subdued start, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) climbed to third on his second attempt, pushing Viñales to fourth.
In the final five minutes, Marini and Martín were overtaken by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda). The Spaniard closely followed the reigning champion’s wheel and took advantage.
However, much changed until the end. Marini claimed the top spot, edging Di Giannantonio by 67 thousandths of a second just ten seconds before the checkered flag. Thus, he secured the pole position ahead of #49, while Álex Márquez obtained third place. Bagnaia will start fourth ahead of Martín, who settled for fifth.
Q2 results:
Overall results of the qualifying: