2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 16 – Misano, Italy

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MotoGP

Francesco Bagnaia’s dream grid for tonight’s race at Misano was probably him on pole and Fabio Quartararo outside Q2, so whatever incantations the Ducati rider has been doing, there’s an argument in there somewhere for the existence of magic, religion, luck, or a combination of all three.

Bagnaia will head the grid from team-mate Jack Miller.

SKY VR46 rider Luca Marini stunned to round out the front row and make it an all Ducati 1-2-3.

That’s the first time ever Ducati has locked out the front row, and the first time since Casey Stoner in 2008 that a Ducati rider has taken four consecutive MotoGP pole positions.

Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) heads the second row alongside Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – the latter the only Yamaha rider in the top 14.

Marc Marquez had to settle for seventh after a troubled Q2, but Lecuona lines up alongside his compatriot in P8 for his best-ever MotoGP qualifying result.

Petrucci made it a day to remember for Tech3 KTM Factory Racing on the Italian’s final race on home soil in ninth, with Zarco’s late crash in his pursuit of a better starting place leaving him in tenth.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and the double crash for Jorge Martin sees the Spaniards launch from P11 and P12.

Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) is the lead Suzuki in P13 ahead of Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will start from the back of that fifth row.

Valentino Rossi might be started from the second last position on the 24-rider grid, but in what is expected to be his last competitive MotoGP outing on home soil, the veteran was still clearly the centre of attention for many.

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MotoGP Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“To get pole position in my home Grand Prix, in front of my fans, is a fantastic way to end Saturday! This morning, I felt really comfortable with the used wet tyres, but with the new ones, I struggled more and couldn’t go straight into Q2. Maybe being in Q1 was better for us because it allowed us to do more laps on slick tyres and see our potential. That gave me more confidence to push harder in the following session and take pole. I hope we can have a dry race because I feel I’m very competitive there, but in general, we’re ready to fight in any condition”.

Jack Miller – P2

“I’m satisfied with the result today in qualifying: we finished really close to Pecco’s pole position, and the front row is always a great position to start from. Overall, it was a fantastic day, both for the team and Ducati, with Marini in third. Tomorrow we’ll try to repeat the result, but for sure, we have a very tricky race ahead of us. The track will probably be dry, and we haven’t had a chance to ride in similar conditions all weekend. Also, we won’t be able to rely much on the data we gathered in the September race or during the two days of testing, considering the lower temperatures this weekend. We’ll be heading into the unknown, but we’ll try to do our best”. 

Luca Marini – P3

“I am very happy with today’s result in front of the Italian fans. It will be exciting to be on the front row in MotoGP for the first time and also difficult, but I am happy. It has not been an easy season so far, but with the team and all the staff we have done a great job. I have a lot of people to thank and to share this moment with. I’ve had a good feeling and every time I’ve had a good feeling with the bike I’ve always been fast. Since the Misano test I have improved my riding position, I have made a step forward in the set-up and I have been able to focus on my style. Ducati supported me and tomorrow I will do my best to be on the same level as the strongest riders. Thanks to the whole team and thanks to Ducati!”

Pol Espargaro – P4

“The conditions today were super tricky. In the morning in the wet I was really struggling to put one whole lap together and I really had to risk a lot to get into Q2. But for sure it was good to achieve this, it was a weight off my shoulders. All today we saw how tough it was and Q1 was even worse. I was quite confident going into Q2 because I knew in the dry I was ahead of a lot of riders, even if the conditions were still difficult. If you went just a tiny bit wide the track was wet, it was tough but I am really happy. The first two rows are very important here with the tight first sector so I am pleased. Tomorrow the plan is to push right from the start because there is a lot of competition around us.”

Miguel Oliveira – P5

“A good qualifying and I’m happy to put the bike into 5th position. I’ve been strong all weekend in different conditions even though it has been quite difficult. The weather should be a bit better tomorrow but still cold and challenging. We hope we can adapt quicker to the situation.”

Franco Morbidelli – P6

“It was a good day for us. The team did a wonderful job in doing the right moves at the right time and making the right modifications on the bike. I was feeling better than yesterday already on the bike, so we made good steps. This morning I was able to go directly into Q2, which is what we were hoping for. In the wet it was really difficult, but we managed to do it anyway. And this afternoon again, we did a good qualifying in tricky conditions. So, this means I’m feeling better with the bike, and this is positive. Everything we wanted to do and planned to do from Austin to here has happened. Now, we will have to see tomorrow what the weather will be like, and we will have to try to improve also in the race.”

Marc Marquez – P7

“If we look at the final time sheets, today wasn’t a bad day as seventh place is more or less our position here, like Misano 1. But it’s true that I wasn’t able to take profit from the situation and I couldn’t perform how I wanted to. In Q2 I already had a big warning in the first lap and then I did an OK lap but when I tried to push for something more the feeling wasn’t there. In the past I enjoyed saving crashes, but the save I made today was not as fun as the position was a lot more extreme and it caused me to lose some confidence. On the last lap I said ‘ok, maybe I crash’ and I crashed. For tomorrow it’s looking like more normal conditions so I think we can put together a good race but maybe the podium is one step too far at the moment.”

Iker Lecuona – P8

“It was finally a very good day. In FP3 this morning, I was struggling a little bit with the rear tyre. I thought I had the speed to be in Q2 but I needed to fight. We worked well in FP4, my feeling with the bike in the mixed conditions was very well. So, I pushed very hard also in Q1, I finished second and went to Q2. I went out with a new rear tyre and a used front tyre on my second run and I had a small crash on my last lap. Nevertheless, I’m happy, I did my maximum. It’s P8 for tomorrow and we will see what we can do from there.”

Danilo Petrucci – P9

“Today we could take our chance thanks to the weather. This morning we have been quite fast in the wet. Also, this afternoon, I was pretty fast. Unfortunately, I crashed. I was pushing a lot and the front tyre wasn’t really hot enough on the left side, so I lost the front. I’m very sorry for my team! But still, it’s our best result this year. Let’s say, we had a good chance today and we took it. I’m happy about this. Tomorrow will be another day, but we start further in front and can be way more positive about that race.”

Aleix Espargaro – P11

“Today was one of those (fortunately rare) days where we riders weren’t really keen on going out on the track! All joking aside, the conditions really were critical, both because of the low asphalt temperature and because of the half dry/half wet situation. In any case, I’m not disappointed. I did a good lap in FP3 that put me through to Q2 and then in qualifying I simply wasn’t incisive – no point trying to make excuses. Considering the forecast for good weather, I think there will be quite a few surprises tomorrow because we haven’t had the time to work on the setup and even the data from the tests isn’t a given since that can sometimes be approximate.”

Alex Rins – P13

“I was really close to getting into Q2, but unfortunately I’ll start the race from P13. Let’s see, because tomorrow will be very different; the last couple of days we’ve been riding in difficult conditions and it will be fully dry and hopefully sunny tomorrow. I had a nasty crash this morning in FP3 but luckily I’m OK and ready to push tomorrow and enjoy a nice race. Today has been very hard for everyone with a lot of crashes, and tomorrow should hopefully be easier. We already know what our set-up and tyres will be thanks to the data we collected in the test and the race here last month.”

Álex Márquez – P14

“Unfortunately, it was wet in the morning and we didn’t improve and put it in Q2 which was the main target. We didn’t improve as we expected from yesterday. But then in FP4, and especially in Q1, I think we did a good job. We gave 100% and the conditions were really tricky with the slicks and the line. So, although I’m not happy, I’m satisfied with what we did. For tomorrow we need to make a good start and be competitive straightaway. It looks like it will be dry so hopefully we can have a good race.”

Fabio Quartararo – P15

“I tried everything I could in FP3 to go directly into Q2, and we didn’t finish so far from the top 10. We made a massive improvement on the wet, but this afternoon the conditions were exactly what I hate, so I knew Q1 would be a tough job. In the end, I finished 3rd in Q1 before the lap was cancelled. It’s not what I expected because I had some struggles in mixed conditions, and I didn’t take enough risk in the last two sectors. But that’s understandable. I’m on the cautious side: I won’t take too many risks with wet patches. In the end I will start from P15. I’m not too worried about it. Of course, I didn’t want to be in this position, but now that I am, I’ll need to make a great start and some great overtakes, and we will see what happens. Tomorrow we will also see which tyres we will use for the race.”

Enea Bastianini – P16

“It was a strange day for me. In the morning it was very difficult to set a fast lap and in FP4 and qualifying my feeling on the bike was not good at all. It was impossible to push and I had three crashes, two of them really strange because it was because the cold tyre and I lost the rear. In qualifying I tried to get the best time I could, but in the sixth corner I lost the front and crashed. In general, the asphalt was very difficult. Tomorrow the weather is likely to be better, so we will wait to decide on the tyres.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P17

“It was really tricky conditions this afternoon, especially Q1 with only 15 minutes. The beginning of Q1 was more difficult, it was really wet in sector 4, although conditions got better and better towards the end. Lap by lap we were improving the lap time, but it was not enough to stay in the top two and there were so many yellow flags also which made it difficult to concentrate. It’s not what we were expecting for the starting grid, but tomorrow is another day and it will be a dry race so I’ll try my best and hopefully we can make a good race.”

Joan Mir – P18

“In this world when something goes wrong, everything goes wrong – today was not our day! In FP3 I was quite competitive in wet conditions but like yesterday, as the track was getting drier I found it harder and harder to get the feeling with the slick. I crashed in FP4 and in Q1 because the conditions were tough and I couldn’t capture the right feeling with the tyre. The track was getting better towards the end of the day, and tomorrow is supposed to be dry, so I’m hoping to do a good job even from a low grid position.”

Maverick Vinales – P19

“After two extremely peculiar days, we can’t look at the result but at what we were able to learn. We are working to get to know this new bike and to define a line to follow in the future as well. From this point of view, I’m satisfied that the team and I improved performance in the wet, also figuring out what had slowed us down yesterday. When the track started drying out, on the other hand, we did not make the same step forward, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to improve our pace tomorrow if the conditions are consistently dry.”

Brad Binder – P20

“It was a difficult day today with the conditions. It was wet pretty much all day. It was only at the end of FP4 where we were able to get out on slicks. I felt quite confident for Q1 but unfortunately ended up crashing halfway through and that was my session done. We can still turn our weekend around but starting P20 tomorrow will be a challenge. We need to get a good start, settle into a rhythm and try to get past people as quick as we can.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P21

“It has been a very difficult weekend for us so far, especially with the weather, and I don’t feel good on the bike. I wasn’t as fast as I wanted to be in Qualifying, where the conditions were half dry and half wet. This isn’t the best for the bike and I didn’t have the feeling that allows me to push hard, so the position on the grid isn’t good. It will be hard in the race, but we will try to learn what we can, try to stay with the group and see what we can achieve. It will be hard to overtake the other riders tomorrow, but we will try our best.”

Michele Pirro – P22

“Today didn’t go as I hoped, and I’m pretty disappointed. I crashed both this morning and this afternoon, compromising my qualifying. I apologise to my team, who unfortunately will have extra work to do tonight. I will try to do my best in the race tomorrow to repay their trust. Fighting for the top ten will be really difficult because I’ll be starting very far back, but I’ll try to have a good race to entertain all the fans that will be watching the race from trackside”.

Valentino Rossi – P23

“It was very difficult because the conditions were very bad and very tricky for us. I didn’t have a very good feeling with the bike or with the tyres, so I was quite slow. The position is bad for the race, but the forecast for tomorrow is good and that we will have a dry race. I hope it will be like this because if we have normal conditions, where it is completely dry, then I think we can be competitive. This weekend is very emotional for me. A normal weekend in Misano is emotional anyway, but in this situation it becomes even more so. Plus it is difficult because there are a lot of things to do and a lot of requests. I think it will be very emotional tomorrow after the race, when I have the chance to say “ciao” to the fans. I feel good though.”

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MotoGP Combined Qualifying Times

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Moto2

Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) is on pole for the sixth time in 2021 after the British rider mastered the tricky Moto2 Q2 conditions at the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna.

It’s Lowes’ 17th intermediate class pole, making him the rider with the most in the class. It was close though, with his 1:36.510 only 0.045 faster than second place Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up), with Augusto Fernandez making it two Elf Marc VDS Racing Team machines on the front row as he took third.

Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took P14 after a tougher day, and teammate and challenger Raul Fernandez took P9 despite a crash… with both looking to move through on Sunday.

Moto2 Combined Qualifying Times

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Moto3

Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46 Academy) dominated in the damp at the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna on Saturday, topping Q1 by 1.2 seconds and then slicing to the top in Q2 for an impressive pole position – and his first since 2019. He’s joined on the front row by Filip Salač (CarXpert PrüstelGP), six tenths down but taking second, with Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride) completing an all-KTM front row.

Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put in a solid session to take fifth, the same grid position as the last race he won, the Styrian GP. For key rival Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) it seemed more of a disaster as he qualified P14… but his second to last win – the Aragon GP – was from that very same position, so it’s set up for a stunner on Sunday!

Moto3 Combined Qualifying Times

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2021 Gran Premio Emilia-Romagna Schedule

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MotoGP Standings

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2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Source: MCNews.com.au