Moto GP: Vinales in pole position ahead of Bagnaia, Martin only 6th in Valencia

The reigning world champion, who had to go through the repechage, struck a big blow and will start on the front row of the sprint on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday, four places ahead of his Spanish opponent. “It’s fantastic, I’m very happy. Friday we were a little unlucky. Today we changed the settings a little and everything went well from the tests. I performed very well in qualifying and achieved my goal so I am confident for the sprint this afternoon,” explained the Turinese.

Martin, on the other hand, made many small mistakes during qualifying and now finds himself in a very bad position, relegated to the end of the second row. The Madrilenian, who is 21 points behind Bagnaia with a maximum of 37 points remaining this weekend, will have to perform an impeccable sprint race to hope to postpone Bagnaia's coronation until Sunday. Vinales, for his part, won his first pole position in almost two and a half years, once again beating the lap record at the Ricardo-Tormo circuit. “I'm delighted, but beyond the pole position, I especially remember the great potential of the bike this weekend,” declared the Spaniard, who signed his first pole position with Aprilia.

Johann Zarco created a surprise by taking third place on the gong and he will start on the front row for the first time this season during his last Grand Prix aboard his Ducati-Pramac, before joining Honda -LCR. “I'm very happy, finishing third is a nice surprise, I didn't expect it. I will have done at least one first line this year! It can give an opportunity to play for the podium in the sprint race and the Grand Prix,” explained the Frenchman, who is defending his fifth place in the world championship this weekend.

SEE ALSO - Lisandro, Dubois, Traoré: OL's best goals against LOSC