Crash, fire then shock first MotoGP pole for Alex Marquez

Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez took his maiden MotoGP pole position in a thrilling wet qualifying session in Argentina.

Marquez – whose elder brother Marc is absent through injury this weekend – crashed his primary year-old Ducati GP22 at the very end of the first segment, and the bike then caught fire after he remounted it to try to bring it back to the pits.

A dramatic end to the session for @alexmarquez73! 😮

His bike burst into flames after a last lap crash! 💥#ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/ZGL6DNeX5D

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 1, 2023

But having to use the other machine was no impediment for Marquez, who was one of three riders to benefit massively from a late slick tyre gamble.

Drizzle throughout the pre-qualifying practice session intensified right before the start of the first qualifying segment, forcing a near-universal switch to wet tyres for the first time in the weekend.

But the rain effectively stopped afterwards, and by the time the opening runs concluded in the pole shoot-out, four riders fancied their chances going back to slicks.

Three of those riders made up the front row. Marquez fired in a last-gasp 1m43.881s to narrowly deny fellow year-old Ducati runner, VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi.

Championship leader Pecco Bagnaia completed an all-Ducati front row, despite being nearly nine tenths of a second off pole.

Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli absolutely shone in the wet conditions but was left to rue staying on wets at the end, as he ended up fourth, two seconds off the pace.

He will be joined on row two by Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco, who led Q2 early on.

VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini was the fourth rider to go for slicks late on, but ran out of time to do any better than seventh place, heading up row three ahead of Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and Friday pacesetter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).

A big moment for @AleixEspargaro! 😮

Looks like he spun it up going across the kerb at the final corner! ⚠️#ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/CDc5fr0k2W

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 1, 2023

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo looked in for a dreadful qualifying after going off in the gravel right away at Turn 5 at the start of Q1 – but fought through the first segment, before ending up 10th in the pole shoot-out. He was spotted on the TV cameras looking furious in the Yamaha garage afterwards.

The Q2 order was completed by the LCR Honda bikes of Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins, both well adrift.

In what almost looked like a particularly cruel April Fools joke, Raul Fernandez was sent out on slick tyres at the start of Q1 – the sole rider running slicks at that point – and had to crawl back to the pits while his rivals prepared their flying laps.

Yet the RNF Aprilia man salvaged a decent session, ultimately placing third – meaning 13th on the grid – with just 0.035s having separated him from a Q2 spot.

Fellow sophomore Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati) was fourth (14th), while Brad Binder led a disappointing qualifying effort for KTM in fifth (15th) albeit just 0.194s off Q1 pace.

Binder’s team-mate Jack Miller couldn’t translate his usual mixed-conditions mastery onto the KTM at the first attempt, and will head the final – sixth – row on the grid.

Joining him there will be Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Augusto Fernandez and Honda’s Joan Mir, both nearly a second off not just the Q1 pace but Miller up ahead.

Qualifying Results