Bagnaia claims pole for San Marino MotoGP with lap record

Francesco Bagnaia took pole position at the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP on Saturday with a lap record as he aims to cut the gap separating him from current championship leader Jorge Martin.

Reigning champion Bagnaia, who trails Martin by 23 points, sped to one minute and 30.304 seconds at the “Marco Simoncelli” circuit in Misano Adriatico, ahead of countrymen Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi who was also fastest in the morning practice session.

Ducati’s Bagnaia is riding with injuries to his shoulder, neck and collarbone after crashing out of last weekend’s Aragon MotoGP but put himself in position to gain points on Martin.

Spaniard Martin, who rides for Ducati satellite team Pramac, is in the second row for Saturday afternoon’s 13-lap spring race and the Grand Prix on Sunday alongside Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder after finishing fourth fastest, 0.341sec behind Bagnaia.

Another title pretender in Marc Marquez, a six-time MotoGP champion and winner of the Aragon sprint and GP, will start in ninth and have his work cut out to reduce the 70-point gap between him and Martin.

Both he and his brother Alex will start in the third row with Enea Bastianini after the younger Marquez earned a spot in the decisive Q2 in the morning’s first round of qualifying.

Earlier Joan Mir pulled out of the GP with a bout of gastroenteritis which also kept him off the track for Friday’s practice sessions.

His team Repsol Honda said on Saturday morning that Mir had “showed signs of overnight improvement, but this morning his condition worsened again” and was instructed not to race by medical staff.

Champion in 2020, the 27-year-old sits 21st in this year’s standings and is yet to finish in the top 10 of any GP this season.