KTM dominance in Montmeló pre-qualifying, Pecco Bagnaia sinks

Brad Binder, on KTM, was the fastest in pre-qualifying for the MotoGP class Grand Prix of Catalonia. The South African on the Montmeló circuit lapped in 1’38″141 ahead of Spanish teammate at Red Bull Factory Racing Pedro Acosta by 104 thousandths. Third and fourth are the two Marquez brothers, Alex with the Ducati Gresini is 139 thousandths behind, Marc, the world leader, 224 thousandths.

Continuous disaster for Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez’s teammate, who, with the same factory Ducati after his penultimate place in free practice, finished 21st, thus remaining far from direct qualification to Q2, which rewards the top 10 in pre-qualifying.

Fifth, sixth and seventh were the three Italians Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), whose bike flew over the circuit fences braking Bagnaia’s extreme attempt, and Franco Morbidelli (Dicati Pentamina Enduro VR46).

Eighth was Frenchman Johann Zarco, who also fell at the crucial moment of Bagnaia’s attempt, and Luca Marini, both on Honda but from two different teams. Tenth finally was Japanese Ai Ogura (Aprilia Trackhouse) who left Yamaha’s Frenchman Fabio Quartararo out of Q2 by just 3 thousandths.