There is no stopping the reigning champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who was again untouchable at the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragon, beating Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) by over three tenths in FP4. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was third fastest, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completing the top five. Pol Esparagro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) headed to the medical centre after a crash at Turn 9, with Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) crashing at Turn 2.
The previously forecasted rain was nowhere to be seen as the premier class riders glistened in the Spanish sun for qualifying, and it was Q1 graduate Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who set the initial benchmark time of a 1:48.495. It wouldn’t take long for that to be beaten though as Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller shaved 0.3 off Morbidelli’s time. Marquez’ first lap would be 0.1 shy of the Australian’s effort, while Viñales went provisional pole by 0.034.
There's the fine line between control and chaos! ⚠️
That was close for @marcmarquez93! ????#AragonGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/izPpW2yNoV
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) September 21, 2019
However, Marquez’ second lap was a blinder. 0.6 under Viñales’ lap after the third split, the Repsol Honda rider was about to go P1. Quartararo, just a few metres up the road from Marquez, took over at the top but Marquez immediately demoted the Frenchman down to P2 with a 1:47.050. Meanwhile, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro had set a lap time good enough for P5 at the end of the first runs, with the Spaniard being joined by teammate Andrea Iannone in Q2 as Aprilia had two of their bikes in the second part of qualifying for the first time.
2019 MotoGP San Marino Final Race: Marquez one step closer to eighth world title with win at Misano
The riders emerged for their second runs and nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) managed to launch himself to P5 from P10, a solid lap from ‘The Doctor’. Viñales then stuck his YZR-M1 into second place, but he remained 0.4 adrift of Marquez. The latter was right behind Viñales and managed to slightly improve his time down to a 1:47.009 as the goalposts were moved further away. The top duo’s work was done as the clocked ticked down to under a minute, but a rookie sensation wasn’t.
Marquez has marked his territory in northern Spain this weekend by claiming pole number nine of the season, but the Yamahas of Quartararo and Viñales are hot on his tail. Can the duo – or maybe a fast-starting Miller – get the better of Marquez in the early stages? We’ll find out at 13:00 local time (GMT+2) on Sunday. Remember the schedule change for the Aragon GP!
