Motorcycling-Bagnaia pips Martin to pole for Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with lap record
21/09/2024 10:54
MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Francesco
Bagnaia took pole position at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on
Saturday, breaking his own lap record at the Misano circuit as
Ducati bikes locked out the front row with Jorge Martin and Enea
Bastianini in the top three.
Martin had initially claimed provisional pole with a lap
record of his own but Bagnaia went more than two-tenths of a
second faster with a time of one minute and 30.031 seconds to
claim his second pole at the circuit in as many weeks.
Bagnaia is set for his 100th race in the premier class while
Ducati are chasing their 100th victory, and the Italian could
only smile after he nearly went below the 1:30 mark on his
qualifying lap.
"Yesterday I said it could be difficult for the temperature
and it was more or less the situation, because it was difficult
to push like we wanted in the left corners," he said.
"But I'm very happy because being in both positions is the
most important thing and we stand in the best position possible
to try to win this afternoon (in the sprint)."
Misano, where the San Marino Grand Prix was also held two
weeks ago, is hosting two races this year after MotoGP cancelled
a scheduled race in Kazakhstan at Almaty's Sokol circuit due to
flooding across the region.
Pramac Racing's Martin leads Bagnaia in the championship by
seven points and he will look to redeem himself at the Misano
circuit where his gamble to switch bikes during the San Marino
Grand Prix backfired and he finished 15th.
"In terms of pace, Pecco (Bagnaia) and I are so close,"
Martin said.
Brad Binder had initially gone third fastest for KTM but
Bagnaia's factory Ducati teammate Bastianini clinched third on
the grid on home turf towards the end of the second qualifying
session.
MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta was fifth fastest for Tech3 while
Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Racing completes the second row.
Marc Marquez won the San Marino Grand Prix but he crashed in
Q2 yet again and could not set a faster lap after swapping
bikes, with the Spaniard coming in seventh-fastest and set to
start on the third row.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
((Rohith.Nair@thomsonreuters.com | Twitter: @RohithNair;))