MARCO BEZZECCHI secured pole position for the San Marino MotoGP, denying the Marquez brothers a one-two finish in the final moments of qualifying.
The Aprilia rider delighted the Italian crowd at the Marco Simoncelli circuit by setting a top time of one minute and 30.134 seconds.
Bezzecchi finished just 0.088 seconds ahead of Alex Marquez, who had appeared set for his second consecutive pole position.
“It’s fantastic, I had a very good lap, a very good morning overall,” said Bezzecchi after the session.
“Very happy about my performance, also the team obviously did a wonderful job.”
Marc Marquez was denied a place on the front row by former champion Fabio Quartararo, who secured third on the grid.
Quartararo finished 0.94 seconds behind Bezzecchi despite coming through the first qualifying session.
“I always put a lot of energy on one lap, this is my strongest point, but today I didn’t expect to make P3,” said the Frenchman.
Marc Marquez still leads the championship by a massive 182 points over his brother Alex.
The Spaniard has won 14 of this season’s 15 sprint races and could secure the title at the Japan MotoGP in two weeks.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia suffered a disappointing qualifying session at his home track, finishing eighth.
The two-time champion recorded his worst ever starting grid position for a MotoGP race at Misano.
Bagnaia sits third in the championship standings but trails Marc Marquez by 250 points with seven weekends remaining.
Honda rider Joan Mir will miss the sprint race after failing to recover from a neck injury sustained in a Friday practice crash. – AFP
