Monster Energy Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo on Saturday took fifth seccessive pole position in a row in the 2021 MotoGP class att the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Ducati Lenovo rider Jack Miller came through Q1 to bag P2 despite a late crash at Turn 3, meanwhile second in the title race Johann Zarco picks up an important front row start in P3.
Considered one of the world’s greatest motorcycle venues, Quartararo admitted that the Catalan circuit is one his favourites and he is keen to win the race on Sunday.
“I am very happy, the feeling with the bike is great. In FP4 we tried both the medium-compound rear tire and the hard-compound rear tire and both work well.” Quartararo said.
“We don’t really know which one to choose tomorrow. The feeling with both tires is good and the lap times are good and consistent.
“Qualifying also went well. I could have been a little faster on my last lap but there was a yellow flag. I’m very happy with the way things are going and I think we can have a strong race tomorrow.” Quartararo added.
Quartararo is the first rider to capture five pole positions in a row since Marc Marquez in 2014. In 1988 a Frenchman Christian Sarron managed to capture five pole positions in a row in the premier class.
“Last year the situation was very different when everyone was riding soft-soft. Now we have slightly different tires and with these you can drive a little more consistently.” Quartararo said.
“This morning I ran a high 1.40 even on 25-lap old tires so that’s fine. If it’s dry in the warm-up tomorrow morning I’ll do a few more laps with the hard tire but we know the medium can last the whole race.” he added.
