Fabio Quartararo sprung a surprise in qualifying in Barcelona, taking his maiden Moto2 pole position. The Frenchman became the second youngest polesitter in the history of the class, and the first on a Speed Up for three years, as he edged out Alex Marquez and Marcel Schrotter.
Quartararo had finished inside the top three in Friday practice but his pole position was still something of a surprise, especially given the pace of Marquez. The Marc VDS rider moved into provisional pole with a quarter of an hour remaining, his 1:43.590 coming during an impressive sequence of laps which bodes well for his ultimate race pace on Sunday.
The Spaniard wouldn’t hold onto pole though with Quartararo edging ahead with three minutes to go, overturning a one-tenth deficit in the final sector to snatch pole. Marquez thus had to settle for second with Marcel Schrotter securing his second front row start in succession, just over a tenth of a second off pole position.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia starts fourth, thirteen places clear of title rival Miguel Oliveira with Brad Binder flying the flag for KTM in fifth. Mattia Pasini lines up sixth ahead of Xavi Vierge and MotoGP-bound Joan Mir while Sam Lowes and Lorenzo Baldassarri round out the top ten.
Moto2 Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya: (Qualifying)
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