Aleix Espargaro blazed to a first ever pole for Aprilia in the MotoGP era in Argentina by a commanding 0.151s over Pramac’s Jorge Martin.
Having set the pace in the preceding FP2 session, Espargaro immediately picked up from where he left off in the early moments of the pole shootout as he posted the fastest lap of the weekend to that point – a 1:38.108s – to sit atop the times following the opening runs, giving his pursuers a formidable task to usurp him.
One by one his 11 other rivals in Q2 failed to breach his time until Martin managed to once again prove his one-lap prowess to fire in a stunning 1:37.839s to take over the top spot with just seconds remaining in the session, though Espargaro wasn’t quite finished.
The two-time premier class rostrum finisher still had time in the tank as he put on a metronomic display to post a 1:37.688s tour, a gambit that would ultimately prove unbeatable as he sealed a third ever MotoGP pole – his first since 2015 – as well as Aprilia’s first in the premier class.
Martin was thus forced to settle for second just ahead of a surprise Luca Marini, who managed to follow his fellow Ducati rider home to complete the front row on his VR46-run GP21-specification machine.
Pol Espargaro managed to escape Q1 and end up an impressive fourth on the grid as he continued to find confidence on his RC213-V, while Maverick Vinales scored his best Aprilia starting position to date in a strong fifth.
Fabio Quartararo was sixth on his factory Yamaha – the only M1 to make Q2 – ahead of Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir, while Johann Zarco and the other Q1 graduate Takaaki Nakagami rounded off the top ten.
Jack Miller saw his chances of a strong qualifying result dissipate after suffering a high-speed crash at Turn 1 shortly following his opening effort in Q2 before later blocking Quartararo, an incident that currently remains under investigation.
Brad Binder completed the 12 pole shootout runners on his KTM.
Just missing out on a Q2 appearance was Qatar Grand Prix winner Enea Bastianini, the Greisni man losing out to Nakagami by just 0.043s in the end, and thus limiting him to 13th on the grid just ahead of a disappointed Francesco Bagnaia.
The factory Ducati ace struggled to find grip with his Desmosedici throughout the afternoon, his ensuing lack of confidence seeing him once again up against it to try and bring home strong points on Sunday.
Franco Morbidelli and Miguel Oliveira also struggled to 15th and 16th on the grid just ahead of Marco Bezzecchi – who takes the honours for highest placed rookie.
Andrea Dovizioso continued to suffer a tough start to life as a factory Yamaha rider on his RNF Racing-run prototype en-route to 18th, while Marc Marquez’s Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl will complete the 24-man grid.
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