Another pole position slipping through the fingers of Fabio Quartararo.
If he still prances at the top of the MotoGP standings with 206 points and 65 ahead of his Spanish runner-up Johan Mir, the French rider has not offered a pole position since the Catalan Grand Prix at the beginning of June. .
This Saturday afternoon, on the Motorland circuit in Aragon (Spain), he finished third in the qualifying sessions.
On Sunday at 2 p.m., the young 22-year-old driver will therefore make the 34th start on the front row of his career in 45 Grands Prix.
Capped on the pole
While he already had five pole positions this season, Quartararo was expected to clinch a sixth in Aragon.
He also temporarily held it in the first half of the race with a lap of 1′46′727 which even allowed him to hope to beat the record set by Marquez on the Spanish circuit in 2015 (1′46′645 ).
Finally, the Frenchman had his first place stolen in the second part of the race by a surprising Francesco Bagnaia who took the opportunity to beat the mark of Marquez with a lap signed in 1′46′'322.
Dream day for @ducaticorse as @PeccoBagnaia pips @jackmilleraus to pole!
🔴 @ FabioQ20 lines up third ahead of MotorLand master @ marcmarquez93!
🙌 # AragonGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/qIUTGY5ZEn
- MotoGP ™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 11, 2021
The Yamaha rider's misadventure did not end there as he was relegated to third place in qualifying by Bagnaia's teammate at Ducati: Jack Miller.
“I managed to get Fabio at the end, it's good to have someone in my sights,” said the Australian at the end of the race.
The Frenchman believes he could not have done better on this track: “Sector 4 is a nightmare for us.
I can not do otherwise because I am at the limit of the red card.
I didn't make a lot of mistakes.
"
Johann Zarco finished tenth
Thanks to the first two places in qualifying, Ducati signs a comeback on a circuit which it has long lacked.
This is the 50th pole position for the Italian team in MotoGP, but only third in Aragon after 2010 and more recently Jorge Lorenzo in 2018. On a personal level, the Italian Bagnaia had already started from pole position in opening of the season in Doha and will therefore be a serious candidate for a first victory in the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Johann Zarco: "The tires got cold, I missed my lap [...]. There were good things, too bad I missed the last 4 minutes."
🗣️ pic.twitter.com/8KGzufTkvA
- CANAL + MotoGP ™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) September 11, 2021
On the other hand, it will be more complicated for another Ducati rider, the Frenchman Johann Zarco. After a good performance in Q1, the third in the world ranking failed to confirm in Q2 and narrowly entered the top 10.