The Aprilia rider takes his second consecutive pole, his fifth of the season, setting a new track record. Alex Marquez is second. Pedro Acosta is fifth. Pecco is furious, here’s what happened to his bike

Not even a mistake at the start of the session stopped Marco Bezzecchi during qualifying for the Valencia GP. The Aprilia rider secured his fifth pole position of the season with an exceptional 1’28″809. It is the new Spanish track record for MotoGP. Balance reigns supreme at the Ricardo Tormo circuit: just think that the Italian is ahead of four other riders by less than a tenth of a second. However, Francesco Bagnaia is not among them. The three-time world champion was sidelined by a technical problem on his Ducati at the end of Q1, thus ruining his chances of advancing to the next round. Pecco will start from sixteenth place.

Bezzecchi made a mistake on his first attempt but redeemed himself with a crazy lap that beat Alex Marquez’s excellent time by just 26 thousandths of a second. The Spaniard from the Gresini Ducati team will start alongside his teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio (+0.044). The second row opens with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia), fourth at 58 thousandths and the best among the riders promoted from Q1. He is followed by Pedro Acosta in fifth. The KTM rider, 96 thousandths behind the pole sitter, hopes to redeem himself during the races. Fabio Quartararo is sixth with Yamaha. Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati), Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha), and Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) are in the third row. Joan Mir (Honda) is tenth, ahead of Johann Zarco, who came through Q1. Ai Ogura is twelfth.

DISAPPOINTMENT—  As already mentioned, it was a disastrous qualifying session for Bagnaia. Returning to the pits disconsolate, Pecco complained of a problem that left his Ducati without fuel. Under the watchful eye of Marc Marquez, watching from the pit wall, the Italian missed out on Q2 for the fourth time in the last nine Grand Prix races. Jorge Martin, who finished seventeenth, will line up next to him. Enea Bastianini will start from twentieth place, two positions ahead of Nicolò Bulega.
The starting grid—  This is how the Sprint and Valencia GP will start:

1 Bezzecchi (Ita/Aprilia); A. Marquez (Spa/Gresini Ducati); Di Giannantonio (Ita/VR46 Ducati)

2 R. Fernandez (Spa/Trackhouse Aprilia); Acosta (Spa/Ktm); Quartararo (Fra/Yamaha)

3 Morbidelli (Ita/VR46 Ducati); Miller (Aus/Pramac Yamaha); Aldeguer (Spa/Gresini Ducati)

4 Mir (Spa/Honda); Zarco (Fra/Lcr Honda); Ogura (Jap/Trackhouse Aprilia)

5 Marini (Ita/Honda); A. Espargaro (Spa/Honda); Binder (South Africa/KTM)

6 Bagnaia (Italy/Ducati); Martin (Spain/Aprilia); Oliveira (Portugal/Pramac Yamaha)

7 Rins (Spain/Yamaha); Bastianini (Italy/Tech3 KTM); Vinales (Spain/Tech3 KTM)

8 Bulega (Italy/Ducati); A. Fernandez (Spain/Yamaha); Chantra (Thailand/Lcr Honda)