Indonesia MotoGP Qualifying Results | Quartararo pole, Marquez crashes for 15th

Fabio Quartararo proved Yamaha isn’t down and out in this year’s 2022 MotoGP World Championship title battle as he secured pole position for Round 2 of the season, the Indonesian MotoGP.

With the defending champions arriving at the new Mandalika Circuit playing catch up after a lacklustre showing during the Qatar opener, Quartararo - a five-time pole winner in 2021 - rediscovered the best of his scintilating single lap performance to extract the most from the M1 in qualifying

Proving himself as the man to beat during the first round of flying laps in Q2, Quartararo bettered his benchmark again during the closing stages, his 1m 31.067secs lap proving comfortably enough to repel the advances of both Pramac Ducati riders he shares the front row with.

A strong day at the office for the Italian satellite team,  Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco gave Pramac the chance to school the factory effort for a second round in succession by landing a double front row start.

Coming to Indonesia on the back on an impressive run to the podium in Qatar, Brad Binder popped in the best qualifying session of his career in Mandlika to head up the KTM challenge in fourth. A rider better known for his advancing race day performances from modest grid spots, Binder’s favourable fourth position on the grid will likely identify him as a contender for honours on Sunday.

Binder’s race-winning sparring partner from Qatar - Enea Bastianini - gets underway from fifth position, the Gresini Racing rider getting the better of stablemate Pecco Bagnaia. The pre-season title favourite recovered well from having to battle his way through a competitive Q1 session before going on to secure a spot on the second row in sixth.

Miguel Oliveira consolidated KTM’s fortunes with an improved Saturday effort in seventh, ahead of top Suzuki rider Alex Rins, Jack Miller on the second of the factory Ducatis and Aleix Espargaro, who slumped to tenth after crashing at Turn 10 in the closing stages. 

One of the day’s surprise star performers, rookie Fabio di Giannantonio joined Bagnaia in advancing from Q1 for the first time, the Italian getting the better of countryman Franco Morbidelli in 11th and 12th after the latter was hampered by a crash mid-way through Q2.

After several big-hitters failed in FP3 to make it into Q2 automatically, Bagnaia was joined by the likes of Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales and both the Repsol Hondas of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro in the fight for just two remaining spots available for the pole-deciding session.

While Bagnaia did his bit to improve his grid position, the upset from di Giannantonio reflected a dismal afternoon for the rest with Mir down in a lowly 18th and Espargaro - quickest in pre-season testing around the Indonesian Circuit - only 14th.

Marquez, meanwhile, suffered his second and third crashes of the weekend in the short Q1 session, leaving him 15th on the grid and with work to do come Sunday.

2022 Indonesia MotoGP | Mandalika Street Circuit | Qualifying RESULTS