Alcañiz (Spain) (AFP)

Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, leader of the MotoGP world championship, took pole position on Saturday for the Grand Prix of Aragon on Sunday, ahead of Spaniard Maverick Vinales, despite a heavy fall during practice in the morning.

Quartararo (Yamaha-SRT) currently has a 10-point lead in the championship over Joan Mir (Suzuki), who took 6th place in qualifying.

It is the 10th pole of his career in MotoGP, the premier class where he started last year, and the 4th this year.

"Honestly, when I fell, I follow myself said + Am I going to be able to drive in the afternoon? + Because if now it's ok, when I fell it wasn't okay. I'm happy because it "was difficult. Yesterday I fell, this morning again and normally it takes time to recover," said the 21-year-old French driver.

"But I can be happy because I'm on pole when my goal was to be on the front row," he added.

According to his manager, he suffers from a hematoma on his right hip after having already suffered one on his left hip the day before.

The Frenchman will share the front row on the grid with Vinales (Yamaha) and the unexpected Briton Cal Crutchlow (Honda-LCR).

"Our race pace is good and that is the most important. Tomorrow, we have to improve a bit and be more consistent," said the Spaniard, currently 4th in the championship 19 points behind Quartararo while a victory pays 25 points.

The 3rd in the championship, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), who has only one point more than Vinales, will start very far, in 13th position.

- Yamaha surprise -

The Yamaha were surprisingly the fastest in practice and qualifying, while more powerful machines like Ducatis, Hondas and KTMs were favorites.

The reason is undoubtedly the particularly cool temperature reigning on the circuit of Aragon which reshuffled the cards.

It also caused many falls, the pilots struggling to heat their tires.

As a result, qualifying was delayed by almost an hour, and the race will start on Sunday at 13:00 GMT instead of 12:00.

The Frenchman's main opponent in the championship, Joan Mir, has yet to win in MotoGP, where he also started last year.

Quartararo already has three victories in this category, all obtained this year.

The championship is particularly open this season due to the absence of Marc Marquez, six-time MotoGP world champion and defending champion, who broke his right arm during the first round.

The date of his return has not yet been announced with five rounds to go until the last one, the Portuguese Grand Prix on November 22.

Another notable absentee from this Aragon Grand Prix is ​​veteran Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), seven-time world champion in the premier class.

Rossi, 41, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday and had to go into quarantine as a result.

His return before the Teruel GP, which will take place on October 25 at the same circuit of Aragon MotorLand, is not yet certain.

© 2020 AFP