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The weather rollercoaster continued in Valencia, with a hint at a dry line appearing as riders got ready for Q2 but slicks didn’t get a chance to come out of their blankets and enjoy the sun. Who did come out to play was pretty much every manufacturer on the grid throwing a rider into the mix for pole. Jack Miller headed into qualifying as the main favourite in the tricky conditions but the Australian bided his time before joining the action and that allowed Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins to steal the spotlight in the early stages of Q2. Once Miller hit the track, he quickly reduced the Honda man’s gap from seven to three tenths of a second and while all eyes were on the trio, Pol Espargaro popped out of nowhere and claimed pole position for KTM.

Alex Rins came within four hundredths of a second of a first pole in the premier class but was happy enough with second, ahead of Nakagami, who missed out on a final opportunity to respond to Espargaro by crashing out in the final two minutes of qualifying. Q1 escapee Johann Zarco also looked fast on his way to placing a Ducati on second row of the grid, ahead of a solid fifth for Joan Mir and a perhaps disappointing sixth position for Miller.

Aleix Espargaro will start on the third row, only half a second off pole and ahead of Q1 leader Miguel Oliveira. The one factory who did not seem to stand a chance at pole was Yamaha, Franco Morbidelli their lead man in 9th spot, with teammate Fabio Quartararo in 11th and the factory boys stuck in Q1, although Maverick Vinales is scheduled to start from pitlane instead of 15th. Brad Binder leads despondent championship hopefuls Quartararo and Andrea Dovizioso on the fourth row, although the South African will have a long lap penalty to serve in the race.

Results:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 1’40.434    
2 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 1’40.475 0.041 0.041
3 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1’40.530 0.096 0.055
4 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1’40.577 0.143 0.047
5 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1’40.704 0.270 0.127
6 43 Jack Miller Ducati 1’40.893 0.459 0.189
7 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1’40.997 0.563 0.104
8 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1’41.328 0.894 0.331
9 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1’41.557 1.123 0.229
10 33 Brad Binder KTM 1’41.781 1.347 0.224
11 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1’41.943 1.509 0.162
12 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1’42.249 1.815 0.306
    Q1 Results:        
Q2 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1’40.771    
Q2 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1’40.821 0.050 0.050
13 6 Stefan Bradl Honda 1’41.010 0.239 0.189
14 73 Alex Marquez Honda 1’41.276 0.505 0.266
15 12 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1’41.310 0.539 0.034
16 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda 1’41.311 0.540 0.001
17 63 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1’41.395 0.624 0.084
18 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’42.039 1.268 0.644
19 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1’42.244 1.473 0.205
20 32 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 1’42.532 1.761 0.288
21 53 Tito Rabat Ducati 1’43.030 2.259 0.498



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