Pol Espargaro snatched his third pole position in bizarre circumstances at Silverstone for the British GP tomorrow.
Pol Espargaro wildly celebrated a pole position at Silverstone at the end of a strange session for tomorrow’s British GP. Pramac pole-king Jorge Martin seemed to do enough with a stunning 1m58.008s.
However, Martin cut the track at Vale, and the lap time got displayed incorrectly. Once race direction noticed, the lap got deleted, and the pole belonged to Espargaro. Martin starts fourth for the race tomorrow.
Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia claimed second place ahead of championship leader Fabio Quartararo. Marc Marquez underlined Repsol Honda’s terrific day with a fifth-place finish.
Joan Mir couldn’t sustain his speed in Q2 after setting a session-best 2m00.237s, but the reigning champion slid back behind his teammate Alex Rins in the order.
Valentino Rossi’s farewell to his adoring British fans started perfectly as The Doctor qualified in eighth place. Home favourite Cal Crutchlow enjoyed a solid session on his comeback in 19th. The Coventry-born rider out-qualified factory KTM rider, Miguel Oliveira.
Young Italians Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini battled in Q1, although they didn’t make it through to Q2. Nevertheless, the youngsters’ lineup 13th and 14th.
Ultimately, Espargaro heads the field to the grid tomorrow. The big guns are all in striking distance; the race promises to be a cracker.
Provisional Classification
| 1 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1’58.889s | 6/7 | 336k |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Team (GP21) | +0.022s | 6/7 | 338k |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.036s | 6/6 | 332k |
| 4 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP21)* | +0.185s | 7/7 | 339k |
| 5 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +0.197s | 6/7 | 335k |
| 6 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | +0.384s | 7/7 | 334k |
| 7 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Team (GP21) | +0.479s | 5/6 | 338k |
| 8 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.642s | 7/7 | 332k |
| 9 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP21) | +0.690s | 6/6 | 339k |
| 10 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +0.750s | 6/7 | 331k |
| 11 | Joan Mir | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +0.874s | 7/7 | 329k |
| 12 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +1.088s | 6/7 | 332k |
| Qualifying 1: | ||||||
| 13 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Avintia Ducati (GP19)* | 1’59.553s | 3/5 | 338k |
| 14 | Luca Marini | ITA | Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* | 1’59.764s | 7/7 | 334k |
| 15 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1’59.881s | 5/7 | 331k |
| 16 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | KTM Tech3 (RC16) | 1’59.997s | 7/7 | 334k |
| 17 | Alex Marquez | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 2’0.117s | 7/7 | 333k |
| 18 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | KTM Tech3 (RC16) | 2’0.131s | 5/7 | 330k |
| 19 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 2’0.217s | 7/7 | 333k |
| 20 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 2’0.391s | 2/7 | 331k |
| 21 | Jake Dixon | GBR | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 2’0.869s | 3/7 | 325k |
