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Fabio Quartararo demonstrated both his brilliant speed and his mental fortitude by taking a brilliant fourth pole position of the season in the MotoGP World Championship for the MotoGP of Aragon.
The Frenchman was reeling a few hours earlier after suffering a second heavy crash of the weekend in FP3, leaving him with pain in his left leg and hip that forces him to limp heavily in and out of the pit garage between races.
On the bike, however, Quartararo was unflappable in a single lap, leaving him until the last moments to pump in a 1m 47.076 seconds that only undermined Maverick Vinales. He also deals a little psychological blow to his title rivals by suggesting that it will take more than a high-speed crash to stop his championship credentials.
Indeed, Quartararo’s pole position will feel particularly bitter for Andrea Dovizioso, considered a favorite in Aragon this weekend, after not only was he knocked out of the race by failing to advance beyond Q1, but had the discomfort of being rejected by his Ducati counterparts, Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci.
In a rare display of excitement on the part of the normally placid Dovi, his throwing gloves into the pit box said it all.
Up front, Quartararo will be joined in the front row by Viñales, the Yamaha rider no doubt pleased to be at the front again, but perhaps annoyed at being outmatched by his limp Yamaha counterpart when it matters.
Joining them in the front row will be Cal Crutchlow, the Brit taking a step beyond his fourth from Le Mans to secure a surprise spot for Honda. Third place marks the first time he has started in the front row of MotoGP since COTA 2019.
Franco Morbidelli was unable to turn it into a Yamaha lock as his last lap was far away from him, while Miller had Q1 to thank for starting racing to save Ducati some blushes on a scorching day for the Italian firm.
Title contender Joan Mir will be satisfied with the sixth, the Spaniard, just 10 points behind Quartararo in the standings, well prepared knowing that he is likely to come out stronger in the race.
Takaaki Nakagami solidified LCR’s good day with a race to seventh place on the one-year Honda, a winner at the hands of Marc Márquez last year, while Petrucci showed that his improved pace can be attributed to those changes in pace. Ducati when it placed eighth on the grid.
Aleix Espargaró scored one of Aprilia’s best starts of the year in ninth place, ahead of Alex Rins on the second of the Suzuki bikes, while Alex Márquez, making his first appearance in Q2, returned to the 11th best of the season. . Pol Espargaró moved up to Q2 in 12th place after struggling, on what was a disappointing day for the KTM contingent.
With Dovi missing in Q2, by just two hundredths of a second, he starts 13th, ahead of Brad Binder, while Iker Lecuona, despite a bad day at KTM, achieves one of his best starts in 2020 with 14th.
Johann Zarco starts in 15th position, coming from Pecco Bagnaia, Miguel Oliveira, Bradley Smith, Tito Rabat and Stefan Bradl.
