MotoGP

Quartararo takes Indonesia pole, Marquez falls twice in Q1

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
4 min read

Reigning MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo scored pole position for the Mandalika track’s first Indonesian Grand Prix, while Marc Marquez crashed out twice in the first segment.

Six-time champion Marquez attempted three runs on three fresh soft rear tyres in a bid to maximise his chances of making Q2 – but the strength of the Ducatis and traffic forced him to push too hard and consigned him to 14th on the grid.

An error-strewn push lap on his second soft rear ended with an inevitable-seeming fall at the Turn 13 left-hander, and he then got stuck behind LCR Honda stablemate Takaaki Nakagami on his final attempt, crashing out at the Turn 12 left-hander soon after passing Nakagami amid apparent desperation to make up time.

Qualifying was delayed after a red flag for track cleanup in the preceding fourth practice, caused by Alex Rins’ Suzuki putting down oil on the surface before properly catching on fire.

Rins’ failed to realise the scope of of the problem right away and only disembarked in the Turn 13 run-off with his GSX-RR already properly in flames – while Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco appeared to be caught out by the oil on track in falling three corners prior.

track cleaning after Alex Rins oil spill MotoGP Indonesia

Quartararo took the initial lead in the pole shoot-out, four tenths up on his nearest rival Francesco Bagnaia, albeit a few thousandths short of the time Bagnaia had recorded to dominate Q1.

And indeed, Bagnaia was on course to jump ahead after swapping to a new soft rear, before failing to get the Ducati stopped in time for Turn 10 and abandoning the effort.

Instead, Quartararo lowered his time to a 1m31.067s, which left him well out of reach of his rivals – with only Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin getting within a quarter of a second.

Marin’s team-mate Zarco vaulted himself to the front row at the chequered flag while in the tow of Qatar GP winner Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati), with Brad Binder running behind the pair to claim fourth – and Bastianini himself picking up fifth, relegating Bagnaia to the back of the second row.

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira, fourth when the chequered flag flew, ended up shuffled down to seventh, followed by Rins and Ducati’s Jack Miller.

Two riders crashed during Q2 and they ended up 10th and 12th respectively, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) split by Gresini rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio, who’d made it out of Q1. Morbidelli, however, then received a three-place grid penalty for “positioning in front of riders staged to do a practice start” in FP3, meaning he will start 15th.

The VR46 Ducatis of Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi will line up ahead of Marquez and Morbidelli. While Marini did his lap by himself, Bezzecchi spent the session glued to the back of Bagnaia alongside fellow rookie Di Giannantonio, but fell while trying to keep up late on.

Pol Espargaro ended up 0.001s behind Honda factory team-mate Marquez in 16th, while Suzuki’s 2020 champion Joan Mir toiled to 18th, setting his fastest lap in the tow of the Bagnaia/Di Giannantonio/Bezzecchi trio before crashing out the very end.

Qualifying Results

Pos Name Team Bike Group 1 Group 2
1 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1m31.067s
2 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati 1m31.28s
3 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati 1m31.378s
4 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1m31.433s
5 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 1m31.504s
6 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1m31.219s 1m31.507s
7 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1m31.566s
8 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1m31.582s
9 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1m31.714s
10 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1m31.723s
11 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 1m31.631s 1m31.829s
12 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1m32.336s
13 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 1m31.666s
14 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 1m31.695s
15 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda 1m31.83s
16 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda 1m31.831s
17 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 1m31.87s
18 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1m31.875s
19 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda 1m31.987s
20 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1m32.006s
21 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 1m32.112s
22 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 1m32.14s
23 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 1m32.299s
24 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 1m32.33s
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