Qualifying report
MotoGP Spanish GP
Jerez MotoGP: Quartararo leads Petronas Yamaha 1-2 in qualifying
MotoGP rookie Fabio Quartararo claimed a shock maiden premier-class pole position at Jerez, leading a Petronas SRT Yamaha 1-2 with teammate Franco Morbidelli.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: May 4, 2019, 3:42 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Quartararo posted the new fastest-ever MotoGP lap of Jerez as he and Morbidelli surpassed the early leader of Q2, reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez.
Opting for a three-run strategy in Q2, Marquez recorded just a single flying lap on his opening run, a 1m36.970s, which was enough to leave him top of the timesheets as he returned to the pits.
Only Morbidelli came close to matching him initially, lapping 0.041s slower than Marquez but almost a quarter of a second up on the rest of the chasing pack.
But after the reigning champion was unable to improve on his second attempt, Quartararo fired in a 1m36.880s, matching Marquez exactly through the first three sectors and finding 0.082s in the final sequence of corners.
With the chequered flag approaching, Morbidelli shuffled Marquez down into third place, outpacing the Honda man by 0.008s.
Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso was up on Quartararo's provisional pole time three sectors into his best effort, but ultimately came up 0.138s short.
Maverick Vinales was the best of the works Yamahas in fifth, having advanced from Q1, and will share the second row with fourth-placed Dovizioso and sixth-placed Cal Crutchlow.
Dovizioso's practice pace-setter teammate Danilo Petrucci took seventh, crashing at Turn 1 on his final lap, ahead of Crutchlow's LCR Honda teammate Takaaki Nakagami and Suzuki's Alex Rins, while Pramac Ducati rookie Pecco Bagnaia made up a top 10 split by 0.504s.
Marquez's Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo crashed at Turn 2 late on and had to settle for 11th, while the other Suzuki of Joan Mir made up the order in Q2.
While Vinales had been relatively comfortable advancing to the pole shoot-out, his factory squadmate Valentino Rossi was consigned to 13th on the grid, despite having led Vinales by 0.007s after their first runs in Q1.
As Vinales improved by just over two tenths, Rossi's protege Bagnaia slotted in between the Yamahas shortly before time expired, and the seven-time MotoGP champion was unable to respond and avoid an early qualifying exit.
Honda wildcard Stefan Bradl was just a tenth away from advancing to Q2, securing 14th on the grid ahead of Bagnaia's Pramac teammate Jack Miller – who crashed at Turn 2 on his final lap.
Aleix Espargaro led Aprilia's efforts in 16th, while squadmate Andrea Iannone had crashed early in the pre-qualifying FP4 session and was forced out of action for the rest of the day.
Iannone paid a visit to the Clinica Mobile paddock facility for x-rays on his left ankle, although these showed he'd escaped a fracture.
Espargaro's brother Pol was again the benchmark for KTM in 17th, albeit this time only 0.022s clear of Johann Zarco.
Qualifying results
Cla Rider Bike Laps Time Gap km/h 1 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 8 1'36.880 164.355 2
Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 8 1'36.962 0.082 164.216 3
Marc Marquez Honda 8 1'36.970 0.090 164.203 4
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 7 1'37.018 0.138 164.122 5
Maverick Viñales Yamaha 8 1'37.114 0.234 163.959 6
Cal Crutchlow Honda 9 1'37.175 0.295 163.856 7
Danilo Petrucci Ducati 7 1'37.209 0.329 163.799 8
Takaaki Nakagami Honda 8 1'37.332 0.452 163.592 9
Alex Rins Suzuki 7 1'37.351 0.471 163.560 10
Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 8 1'37.384 0.504 163.505 11
Jorge Lorenzo Honda 5 1'37.496 0.616 163.317 12
Joan Mir Suzuki 7 1'37.514 0.634 163.287 View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Jerez MotoGP: Petrucci tops FP3, works Yamahas to Q1
Next article Quartararo: "Incredible" to repay SRT Yamaha's faith
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
Mar 13, 2020
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Mar 12, 2020
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General Mar 11, 2020
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Marc Marquez
Jorge Lorenzo describes Marc Marquez as “the Ayrton Senna of motorcycling”
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
3 d
Jorge Lorenzo describes Marc Marquez as “the Ayrton Senna of motorcycling”
Valentino Rossi in new autobiography: '2015 still hurts, Marc Marquez wanted me to lose'
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
4 d
Valentino Rossi in new autobiography: '2015 still hurts, Marc Marquez wanted me to lose'
More from
SIC Racing Team
Vierge rejects SRT offer to make MotoGP debut at Aragon
MotoGP
MotoGP
Aragon GP
Aug 30, 2021
Vierge rejects SRT offer to make MotoGP debut at Aragon
How SRT can convince Dovizioso to join its MotoGP team
MotoGP
MotoGP Aug 26, 2021
How SRT can convince Dovizioso to join its MotoGP team
The Moto3 rider set for the great leap to MotoGP in 2022
MotoGP
MotoGP Aug 13, 2021
The Moto3 rider set for the great leap to MotoGP in 2022
Latest news
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 6 h
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 7 h
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
8 h
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
10 h
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe