Marc Marquez set a new Mugello lap record on his way to a blistering pole position for MotoGP's Italian Grand Prix, defeating Fabio Quartararo at the death.
Marquez started his final flyer in Q2 down in sixth position while Quartararo on his Petronas SRT Yamaha looked safe at the top of the times, having set two laps quick enough for provisional pole.
Both riders looked set to improve on Quartararo’s own earlier benchmark of 1:45.845, but a healthy slipstream from Andrea Dovizioso saw Marquez snatch pole by just over two-tenths from the Frenchman.
Danilo Petrucci, who looked to be a pole favourite following his strong Saturday morning practice pace, will start third and on the front row as fastest Ducati.
Franco Morbidelli made it two SRT machines in the top four, while Pramac’s Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow’s LCR Honda completed the second row.
Maverick Vinales finished a tough qualifying session for the factory Yamaha squad in seventh, just clear of Francesco Bagnaia’s Pramac Ducati and Andrea Dovizioso, who was one of the riders to progress from Q1 alongside team-mate Michele Pirro.
Pirro was quickest out of the gate as Q1 got under-way, the Ducati test rider posting a time just two-tenths slower than team-mate Danilo Petrucci’s new track record, set in FP3.
Alex Rins initially managed to set the second quickest time, marginally quicker than Andrea Dovizioso’s opening gambit, while Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi remained sixth and seventh respectively at the mid-point of the session.
Dovizioso meanwhile was struggling to improve, the Italian having to bail out of his next attempt in the closing stages of the session after a mistake at Turn 12, meaning he had time for one final lap.
Now under huge pressure, Dovizioso managed to bang in a time just 0.005 faster than Pirro in the dying seconds to make it through to Q2, relegating Rins to a 13th placed start for the Italian Grand Prix.
Takaaki Nakagami will start tenth on LCR’S second Honda, while Pol Espargaro failed to deleiver on his strong practice speed by only managing 11th quickest ahead of Pirro, who failed to improve on his Q1 benchmark.
Neither 2018 Italian GP winner Lorenzo nor Rossi were able to improve on their earlier efforts, meaning they will start just 17th and 18th respectively for tomorrow’s race.
