Quartararo Takes Fourth Consecutive MotoGP Pole At Mugello

Calum Gill 14:57 29/05/2021

Fabio Quartararo has taken pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, making it four in a row in 2021.

The Monster Energy Yamaha rider set a time of a 01:45.187 to take the new MotoGP lap record of the Mugello circuit. It was enough to beat fellow front row-sitters Francesco Bagnaia on the Ducati Lenovo and Pramac's Johann Zarco. Aleix Espargaró took his and Aprilia's best qualifying result of the season with fourth, with Jack Miller, winner in both of the last two races, in fifth on the other Ducati Lenovo. Brad Binder did well to complete row 2 in 6th, just edging ahead of his Red Bull KTM teammate Miguel Oliveira. Suzuki's Spanish pairing Álex Rins and Joan Mir joined Portugal's Oliveira on row 3, with Rins starting tomorrow's race ahead of teammate and 2020 champion Mir.

Petronas Yamaha SRT's Franco Morbidelli will lead the fourth row from tenth, and he will be joined there by Repsol Honda pairing Marc Márquez in 11th and Pol Espargaró in 12th. Maverick Viñales was frustrated to miss out on Q2 after a mistake at the Curva Bucine on his final flying lap. The Spaniard's frustration will only be compounded by the fact teammate Quartararo will start on pole. Valentino Rossi's home misery only continued as the 7-time-champion rider could only manage to put his Petronas Yamaha SRT 20th on the grid.

The race is now set up nicely, as the front row is occupied 1-2-3 by the riders in that position in the standings. With Quartararo and Bagnaia separated by a point, whoever finishes higher tomorrow will go into Catalunya next weekend as championship leader.