Spaniard beats Dovi and Marquez as the trio are split by 0.079, with the latter two playing cat and mouse in Q2

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) will start Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon from P1 after sealing his third consecutive pole position of the season in style, snatching Saturday’s honours from teammate Andrea Dovizioso by 0.014 seconds as the Ducati duo overhaul Championship leader Marc Marquez (Respol Honda Team) in Q2.

Q2 sees 12 riders taking to the track with the aim of setting the quickest lap time, with the fastest taking pole position on Sunday

It was third place Marquez who came out the blocks quickest though, immediately clocking a 1:46.974 – the quickest lap of the weekend – on his first flying run, with Lorenzo 0.110 behind and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) on the provisional front row.

The mind games then appeared as the riders came out to try and better their times. Dovizioso had Marquez lurking in his shadows as the top two in the Championship played cat and mouse, which led to both backing out of flying laps as everyone apart from Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) scrapped their opening second-run circulations.

This meant it all came down to a one-lap dash, with Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) leading a freight train of eight riders, as Marquez clung onto the tailpipes of Dovi. The two were setting the timing screens alight but heading into Turn 12, the Honda rider slightly out-braked himself – losing a potential pole lap. Meanwhile, despite having to manoeuvre past Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) at the same corner, ‘DesmoDovi’ went fastest by 0.065 to grab provisional pole, but teammate Lorenzo was on the prowl. Heading out slightly later than the rest of the field, the ‘Spartan’ put the hammer down and snatched pole by 0.014 – his fourth of the season and his fourth successive front row in Aragon.

GRAN PREMIO MOVISTAR DE ARAGÓN
MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 2018 

Alcañiz, Saturday, September 22, 2018

Pos.    Num.    Rider    Nation    Team    Bike    Km/h    Time    Gap 1st/Prev.
1    99    Jorge LORENZO    SPA    Ducati Team    Ducati    335.4    1'46.881    
2    4    Andrea DOVIZIOSO    ITA    Ducati Team    Ducati    339.6    1'46.895    0.014 / 0.014
3    93    Marc MARQUEZ    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    338.4    1'46.960    0.079 / 0.065
4    35    Cal CRUTCHLOW    GBR    LCR Honda CASTROL    Honda    336.0    1'47.146    0.265 / 0.186
5    29    Andrea IANNONE    ITA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    336.9    1'47.169    0.288 / 0.023
6    26    Dani PEDROSA    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    344.1    1'47.224    0.343 / 0.055
7    9    Danilo PETRUCCI    ITA    Alma Pramac Racing    Ducati    334.0    1'47.351    0.470 / 0.127
8    19    Alvaro BAUTISTA    SPA    Angel Nieto Team    Ducati    337.7    1'47.678    0.797 / 0.327
9    42    Alex RINS    SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    330.3    1'47.737    0.856 / 0.059
10    43    Jack MILLER    AUS    Alma Pramac Racing    Ducati    331.6    1'47.792    0.911 / 0.055
11    25    Maverick VIÑALES    SPA    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    336.2    1'47.810    0.929 / 0.018
12    30    Takaaki NAKAGAMI    JPN    LCR Honda IDEMITSU    Honda    327.0    1'48.284    1.403 / 0.474