The French set the sixth qualifying time in Argentina with the Yamaha.
Spaniard Aleix Espargaro took the very first pole position for his Aprilia team in MotoGP on Saturday in Argentina, ahead of his compatriot Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) and Italian Luca Marini (Ducati-VR46).
The reigning French world champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) will start in the second row in sixth place, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. local (8:00 p.m. French) on the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
Pol Espargaro (Honda) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) will be just ahead of “Quarta” on the second row. The Italian vice-world champion Pecco Bagnaia will start in 14th place only.
“What I feel, I would say it’s pride, reacted hot Espargaro. We have worked very, very hard for five years, (…) we are approaching the limit and the best motorcycles in the world”.
Espargaro, 32, had already taken pole twice, but on a Yamaha in 2014 and a Suzuki in 2015, before joining Aprilia in 2017.
The Italian brand made its return to MotoGP in 2015, after a first period in the premier class from 1994 to 2000 (500cc) then from 2002 to 2004 (MotoGP). She is now aiming for her first victory in MotoGP, a category created in 2002.
In the third row, we will find the Suzukis of Alex Rins and Joan Mir, followed by the Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac).
Already withdrawn in Indonesia two weeks ago after a very violent fall during the warm-up in Indonesia, Marc Marquez (Honda) is still absent.
The Spaniard, six-time MotoGP champion, is the last winner here in Argentina, in 2019, the last two editions having been canceled due to the pandemic. He withdrew due to his double vision problems (diplopia), awakened by his fall, yet another episode of the ordeal he has been experiencing since his broken arm at the first Grand Prix of 2020.
25h45 late
The first test session, initially scheduled for Friday at 10:50 a.m. local (3:50 p.m. French), began Saturday at 12:35 p.m. in Argentina, due to a delay in the delivery of part of the freight.
One of the five cargo planes transporting the equipment from Indonesia, where the second round of the season took place on March 20, was grounded for a long time in Kenya for a technical problem. As a result, some teams found themselves without motorcycles, or even nothing.
The precious cargo arrived in the Argentinian night after several stopovers. A sleepless and studious night for the mechanics of the teams concerned, such as Ducati-Gresini or Ducati-VR46, to allow the pilots to go hunting for the best time on the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
Faced with this unprecedented situation, MotoGP has upset its program: all the world categories (with Moto2 and Moto3) have been impacted and the Friday tests have been postponed to Saturday. For the queen category, only two sessions took place, against four usually.
The warm-up on Sunday, the “warm-up”, will go from 20 to 40 minutes to provide drivers with some running on this circuit which has not been used for three years. The start time of the GP remains unchanged at 3:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. French).
