After going back to the US for the first time in 2 years, the calendar moves back to San Marino for the 2nd race at the “Misano world circuit Marco Scimoncelli” with only 3 races to go, Quartararo has a big oppotunity to clinch the Riders Championship on this weekend, but adversities may occur on the process.

The big news at the start of the Q1 session was to see Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia taking part of this session, as both riders were figthing for the championship; Being unable to advance through the next session was prohibited. First attempts saw both championship contenders at front, as Bagnaia and Quartararo were on the safe spots, just ahead of Rins, Alex Marquez and Maverick Viñales.

As the final attempt were on track, Bagnaia was looking safe to advance at the next session, meanwhile Quartararo was on big issues, as Iker Lecuona made a better time than the Frenchman. Eventually, the Yamaha rider couldn’t improve on the last attempt and finished just outside the safe zone; With an implemented penalty for ignoring yellow flags after Joan Mir’s incident.

Q1 results:

13. Álex Rins /// 14. Álex Márquez /// 15. Fabio Quartararo
16. Takaaki Nakagami /// 17. Maverick Viñales /// 18. Enea Bastianini
19. Joan Mir /// 20. Brad Binder
21. Andrea Dovizioso ///22. Michele Pirro
23. Valentino Rossi // DNS. Lorenzo Savadori

The next Qualy session was critical for the Ducati riders, as they could have a better advantage for discounting points on the championship standings. First minutes saw Marc Marquez doing a big save after almost losing the bike, then Jorge Martin didn’t have the same luck and went to the gravel, Both Q1 leaders were keeping the momentum on their side, as Bagnaia and Lecuona were leading on the first stint of the session, with Luca Marini on 3rd.

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With only few minutes at the session, ot was clear that Ducati everything on their side to archive big starting spots on the grid. As Bagnaia keep improving his lap times, Jack Miller on the other Ducati also looked strong, with a 2nd place on the grid, Luca Marini finished his personal best starting position as the Italian closes the front row at 3rd. Pol Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira and Franco Morbidelli closed the 2nd row at 4th,5th and 6th respectively.

1. Francesco Bagnaia /// 2. Jack Miller /// 3. Luca Marini
4. Pol Espargaro /// 5. Miguel Oliveira /// 6. Franco Morbidelli
7. Marc Márquez /// 8. Iker Lecuona /// 9. Danilo Petrucci
10. Johann Zarco /// 11. Aleix Espargaró /// 12. Jorge Martín

Big chance for Ducati to close the gap at the standings, as Quartararo have to make a comeback if he wants to clinch the riders championship on this weekend.