Marquez takes shock pole in first MotoGP qualifying of 2023

Honda MotoGP rider Marc Márquez has scored a shocking pole position for the opening qualifying session of the 2023 season at Portimao.

Marquez had to make it through Q1 and spent most of Q2 at the bottom of the standings before successfully pulling Ducati’s Enea Bastianini to take pole position from Bastianini’s teammate Pecco Bagnaia.

Not surprisingly, 1:37:226 was a new lap record. After testing, Friday practice, and the lap record was set in Q1.

I don’t think Marc Márquez’s dad expected that at all😅#Portugal Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/Fr0gl3XgaQ

— BT Sport’s MotoGP (@btsportmotogp) March 25, 2023

“I don’t know. Honestly, I can’t explain it because I don’t understand it,” Marquez said of Paul. “I don’t understand the situation.

“We struggled quite a bit yesterday, but it is true that today the ride was better and the guys have done an incredible job of improving the details.

“But it’s true that you need a slipstream to do very fast laps with Honda at the moment. , that’s one of my strengths. If there’s a strong point there, I have to benefit.”

Jack Miller, who shocked MotoGP by taking the lead in the aforementioned Friday practice, kept his dream of his first KTM pole since 2020 and recorded the fastest opening run.

game over @jackmilleraus!🛑#Portugal Grand Prix 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/X1gKQJDMGG

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023

Bagnaia quickly dashed out in front of him and the title favorite seemed completely pegged on pole position until Marquez’s final gasp stunned. Bagnaia himself came out into traffic on the final lap. I was.

Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin completed the top three, followed by home hero Miguel Oliveira in the 2022 Aprilia of the RNF run, with Miller and Bastianini completing row two.

Maverick Vinales led Aprilia in seventh, followed by the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini. Marini, who was just 0.396 seconds off pole in ninth, crashed in his FP3 before qualifying, as did both Bagnaia and Bastianini.

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco finished the top ten with six Ducatis, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was 11th, 0.040s behind Zarco. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro has completed its Q2 order.

great job from @Alex Espargaro to run the bike! 👏

That alone gave him enough time to go back and try again!#Portugal Grand Prix 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZtLoQ53EmN

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023

After a very promising pre-season test at Portimao, Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez finished 13th on the grid after losing to Oliveira in the last gasp battle for the final Q1 transfer spot.

He was 10 seconds ahead of Honda’s new works rider Joan Mir, followed by older team-mate Marquez in the first Q1 run, but lost 0.4 seconds and could improve on that. Couldn’t. Second time.

Brad Binder, who went to the hospital to have his neck examined on Friday, speculated that KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer may have had a pinched nerve, and recovered to 15th.

Behind him, row 6 LCR Honda duo Alex Rins and Takaaki Nakagami flanked Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli. Morbidelli has broken out of the top 10 in 21 of his last 22 attempts, and his single-lap struggle continues.

Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Augusto Fernandes avoided the ‘wooden spoon’ in his debut, beating out both RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandes and Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio. .

Gasgas represented only rookie Fernandes in both the sprint and main race, while Pol Espargaro was hospitalized over the weekend after suffering serious injuries in Friday’s second practice crash.

Qualifying result