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Bagnaia hands second successive Misano pole to Vinales with costly late error

Francesco Bagnaia missed out on a maiden pole position in MotoGP with an error that handed top spot to Maverick Vinales.

By Nicholas Mcgee
Maverick Vinales

Misano, September 19: Maverick Vinales claimed his second successive pole position at Misano as an error from Francesco Bagnaia saw him miss out on the front row in a dramatic qualifying session for the Emilia Romagna and Rimini's Coast Grand Prix.

Bagnaia, who smashed the Misano lap record in third practice, found searing pace as the Pramac Racing rider attempted to deny Vinales.

He crossed the line in one minute and 30.973 seconds, which would have seen him take a first career pole and set the first 1:30 lap at the Marco Simoncelli circuit.

Brad Binder sets the early pace in MisanoBrad Binder sets the early pace in Misano

Stakes are high in Misano as another spectacular race weekend beckonsStakes are high in Misano as another spectacular race weekend beckons

However, his lap was immediately expunged as Bagnaia exceeded the track limits on the final turn, handing pole to Vinales after his lap record of 1:31.077.

Bagnaia dropped to fifth, with Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo completing the front row behind Vinales.

The KTMs of Pol Espargaro and Brad Binder were fourth and sixth respectively, while championship leader Andrea Dovizioso will have work to do to hold on to his six-point lead over Quartararo.

Dovizioso was 10th behind Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci, the fourth row completed by Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami.

LCR Honda's Nakagami went off at turn 15 in FP4 and repeated that error in Q2, wrecking his second bike of the race week and leaving him to settle for 12th on the grid.

Provisional classification

1. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) 1:31.077s 2. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) +0.076s 3. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) +0.145s 4. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +0.231s 5. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) +0.236s 6. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +0.312s 7. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.359s 8. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) +0.489s 9. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) +0.497s 10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +0.504s 11. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.540s 12. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) +1.207s

Story first published: Saturday, September 19, 2020, 19:49 [IST]
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