Alcañiz (Spain) (AFP)
Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) took pole position for the Aragon Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday, ahead of his Australian team-mate Jack Miller and Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), current world championship leader.
In the process, "Pecco" Bagnaia improved the track record to 1: 46.322, the previous one being held since 2015 by Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda) in 1: 46.635.
The latter achieved the 4th fastest time on Saturday and will therefore start from a completely Spanish second row with Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) 5th and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) 6th.
This is the 2nd pole position obtained by Bagnaia in MotoGP but the Italian rider has never yet won in the premier class.
He currently occupies 4th place in the championship 70 points behind Fabio Quartararo.
“I am very happy,” said Bagnaia.
"We managed to break the track record that had been held for six years," he said.
Quartararo said he was not able to be fast enough in the last section of the MotorLand Aragon circuit.
"I felt good on the bike but it was too difficult to get pole," he said.
"We will see tomorrow but the goal is to be in the first," added the Niçois who has already won five victories this season.
He is currently 65 points ahead of his runner-up Joan Mir (Suzuki), the reigning champion who will start 7th on Sunday at 2 p.m. French time (12 p.m. GMT).
The second Frenchman entered in MotoGP, Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac), will start in 10th position.
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