Maverick Viñales takes pole position for the San Marino Grand Prix following a duel with SRT Petronas rider Franco Morbidelli in the second qualifying session.
The pair battled it out with each other, constantly trading quickest lap times until the Spaniard was able to pip Morbidelli riding around the circuit in 1:31.411, a time that is also a new lap record.
Viñales’ performance has been strong throughout the weekend so far, the Spaniard setting the fastest time in Free Practice 1 on Friday and the second fastest time in FP3.
The factory Yamaha rider will lead an all-Yamaha front-row lockout for tomorrow’s race as SRT Petronas pilots Franco Morbidelli and championship leader Fabio Quartararo bagged second and third on the grid respectively.
FP3 star Rossi held the fastest lap only for a matter of seconds before Fabio Quartararo pipped the Italian with a time of 1:31.791, a mere 0.086 of a second quicker than the Italian.
However, Viñales was quick to respond to Quartararo and rode his M1 to provisional pole, only for his time to come under attack from Morbidelli who pushed the French rider to second place.
It was a battle between brothers in the earlier Q1 session, as Aleix Espargaro and Pol Espargaro fought against each other in an attempt to secure one of two spots in the Q2 shootout.
It looked as though both would go through until Styrian GP winner Miguel Oliveira split the pair to go into second, dropping Aleix Espargaro into P3 and thus limiting him to a 13th place starting position.
Despite making it through, Pol’s hopes of a front row race start also faded when the KTM factory rider crashed in the second qualifying session at Turn 15.
The resulting yellow flag prevented pole-sitter Maverick Viñales from bettering his time further.
Rossi will head the front row in fourth just ahead of Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller in fifth, while the returning Francesco Bagnaia put on a strong display to secure sixth on his own Desmosedici.
Suzuki’s Alex Rins managed to slot his machine seventh just clear of team-mate Joan Mir, while the struggling Andrea Dovizioso could muster up only ninth ahead of Johann Zarco-who suffered a fall in FP4-to complete the top ten.
Honda’s tough San Marino event continued in qualifying meanwhile, Takaaki Nakagami the highest placed RC213-V in 14th on his LCR-run example.
Factory Honda men Stefan Bradl and Alex Marquez once again could be found only at the foot of the times, Honda test rider Bradl 19th on the grid while Marquez starts 21st-the 2019 Moto2 world champion over four-tenths down on his team-mate.
Misano Adriatico, Saturday, September 12, 2020
| # | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’31.411 | |
| 2 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’31.723 | 0.312 / 0.312 |
| 3 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’31.791 | 0.380 / 0.068 |
| 4 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’31.877 | 0.466 / 0.086 |
| 5 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’32.052 | 0.641 / 0.175 |
| 6 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’32.054 | 0.643 / 0.002 |
| 7 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’32.090 | 0.679 / 0.036 |
| 8 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’32.102 | 0.691 / 0.012 |
| 9 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’32.184 | 0.773 / 0.082 |
| 10 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’32.218 | 0.807 / 0.034 |
| 11 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’32.266 | 0.855 / 0.048 |
| 12 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’32.323 | 0.912 / 0.057 |
