Francesco Bagnaia took pole for the 2024 MotoGP title decider on the Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona, with championship chief Jorge Martin fourth.
This weekend’s ultimate spherical of the season sees Martin come into it 24 factors away from Bagnaia within the standings and will wrap up the title in Saturday afternoon’s dash.
He must outscore Bagnaia by two factors, however that process has change into tougher after the latter scorched to pole on his manufacturing facility workforce Ducati forward of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Gresini’s Marc Marquez.
Martin, who mentioned on Friday he didn’t really feel assured on his Pramac-run GP24, heads row two in fourth forward of team-mate Franco Morbidelli.
At first of the 15-minute Q2 session at Barcelona, Martin was round a tenth up on Bagnaia by way of the primary sector earlier than backing out of that first flying lap.
Reigning world champion Bagnaia set the preliminary tempo at 1m39.583s, with Marquez shadowing him by 0.037s in second.
Bagnaia improved once more on his second flying lap to clock a 1m38.835s, whereas Martin’s first effort put him onto the provisional entrance row in third.
For his ultimate run, Bagnaia emerged from pitlane with Marquez in tow once more and Morbidelli.
Bagnaia was capable of finding extra time within the closing levels of Q2, producing a 1m38.641s to assert the ultimate pole of the yr and probably the most essential.
A late push from Aprilia’s Espargaro on his MotoGP farewell noticed him leap as much as second, 0.055s from pole, whereas Marquez held onto third on his Gresini-run GP23.
Martin’s penultimate flying lap noticed him run by way of the chicane at Flip 1, leaving him with time for only one extra try.
He might do not more than fourth, with Morbidelli 0.037s behind him. Tech3 GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta accomplished the second row in sixth.
Maverick Vinales threatened Martin’s fourth spot on his ultimate lap, however the Aprilia rider missed out in seventh forward of Ducati’s Enea Bastianini.
VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi was ninth, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo tenth having come by way of Q1 alongside Morbidelli.
Alex Marquez was eleventh after crashing his Gresini Ducati early on, whereas LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco was twelfth.
Joan Mir narrowly missed out on making it two Hondas in Q2, the manufacturing facility rider 0.028s exterior of the highest two within the first 15-minute session.
Miguel Oliveira will begin 14th on his ultimate outing with Trackhouse Aprilia and his first since fracturing his wrist in apply for the Indonesian GP.
He beat Yamaha’s Alex Rins, with Luca Marini sixteenth on the sister manufacturing facility workforce Honda forward of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) and KTM duo Brad Binder and Jack Miller.
Miller crashed within the closing levels of Q1 at Flip 5. Takaaki Nakagami was twentieth for LCR Honda for his MotoGP farewell, with Augusto Fernandez (Tech3), Michele Pirro (VR46) and Stefan Bradl (HRC take a look at workforce) finishing the sphere.
