Jack Miller storms to pole in changeable weather at Misano – Francesco Bagnaia second but with grid penalty – Fabio Quartararo only eighth on grid
Jack Miller can celebrate his first MotoGP pole since Argentina 2018: the Ducati rider set the fastest time of 1’31.899 in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix, relegating teammate Francesco Bagnaia to second. Enea Bastianini, another Ducati rider, followed in third place.
As in Moto3, the MotoGP riders also had to deal with unsettled weather. There were occasional drizzles, but it was nowhere near wet enough for rain tyres. In Q1, the two VR46 Ducati riders Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini coped best with the situation.
They advanced one lap retrospectively, while names like Jorge Martin and Brad Binder got stuck in Q1. The rain got a little heavier towards the end of the session, so most riders started the second qualifying section on rain tyres.
Only Miguel Oliveira went out immediately on slicks on his KTM and proved in the first lap that he was much faster than the competition on rain tyres. Gradually the rest switched to slicks, with Oliveira having the advantage of having already done a few laps on them.
Slicks are SURELY the choice! @_moliveira88 is much faster than the guys on wets! SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/UUem6AvQr9
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 3, 2022
However, the competition was quick to adapt to the conditions. The Ducati riders in particular pushed the pace and took turns at the front. In the end, Miller narrowly edged out his team-mate: He and Bagnaia were separated by just 15 thousandths of a second.
Miller: Bike wasn’t ready in the first place
“The track wasn’t even in that bad a condition,” said the pole-sitter. “The rain had almost completely disappeared. But in the pit lane it was still completely wet. My bike with dry set-up was not ready and I already thought I had missed the right window.”
“In fact, the track was almost completely dry and we managed it well. There were a few hairy moments, but of course the feeling is great. This is my second MotoGP pole. To get one again after such a long time, and here at the home of Ducati, that’s great. “
Bagnaia admits: “That was one of my most difficult MotoGP qualifying sessions ever! It was very difficult to understand how hard to attack. I’m happy because we managed it really well. My goal was to finish in the top three.”
However, Bagnaia will start from fifth rather than second on Sunday. This is due to a grid penalty imposed by the race stewards because Bagnaia had obstructed another rider in Friday practice. As a result, his brand-mates Bastianini and Bezzecchi will move up one position each.
Quartararo and Espargaro further back
Maverick Vinales also gains a grid position. The Aprilia rider qualified fifth. Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati) rode to sixth. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) could not go beyond eighth place and thus still lined up behind Marini.
Quartararo’s World Championship rival also had nothing to do with the fight for pole: Aleix Espargaro only put his Aprilia in ninth place. Oliveira eventually finished tenth, sharing the fourth row with Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Alex Rins (Suzuki).
Pramac rider Martin narrowly failed to finish third in Q1 and did not go beyond 13th on the grid. He shares the fifth row with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini-Ducati) and Binder on the KTM. Alex Marquez (LCR-Honda) crashed and was 16th, followed by Michele Pirro (Ducati) and Andrea Dovizioso (RNF-Yamaha).
Repsol Honda duo Pol Espargaro and Stefan Bradl finished a distant 19th and 20th, almost nine tenths off the fastest time in their qualifying session.
The remaining places on the grid were filled by Darryn Binder (RNF-Yamaha), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda) and Kazuki Watanabe (Suzuki), who, as Joan Mir’s replacement, was able to leave the two Tech 3 rookies Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez behind him.