VALENCIA, Spain – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro secured his second MotoGP pole of the season in wet conditions Saturday at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Espargaro used a late fast lap of 1:40.434 to top Suzuki’s Alex Rins by a slim .041 seconds to earn the pole for Sunday’s race. Takaaki Nakagami crashed late, but still managed to claim third on the starting grid.
Johann Zarco qualified third, with MotoGP championship leader Joan Mir timing in fifth as he continues to chase the championship and his first victory of the season. Aleix Espargaro qualified sixth to complete the second row.
Jack Miller, Miguel Oliveira and Franco Morbidelli qualified seventh through ninth to fill out row three. Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Andrea Dovizioso followed in 10th through 12th.
Valentino Rossi, making his return to MotoGP after contracting COVID-19 in October, failed to advance out of Q1.