The Spaniard set a lap record of 1m27.767s at Phillip Island. Next to him will be six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez (Honda) in the 18th and third to last race of the season. MotoGP is back in Melbourne for the first time since 2019.
World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo will start from fifth position on his Yamaha. Two places ahead of the Frenchman is his pursuer in the overall standings, Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) in third place. Quartararo and Bagnaia are separated by only two points in the World Championship standings. Spain’s Aprilia driver Aleix Espargaro, third in the World Championship, pushed himself between the two in qualifying and is 20 points behind Quartararo.
KTM rider Brad Binder made it to 16th place, while Thailand GP winner Miguel Oliveira had to settle for 21st place. However, the Portuguese received a penalty for a practice start in the first qualifying and is therefore relegated by three places to the last place on the grid.
Source: Nachrichten
