Quartararo posted the new fastest-ever MotoGP lap of Jerez as he and Morbidelli surpassed the early leader of Q2, reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez. Opting for a three-run strategy in Q2, Marquez recorded just a single flying lap on his opening run, a 1m36.970s, which was enough to leave him top of the timesheets as he returned to the pits. Only Morbidelli came close to matching him initially, lapping 0.041s slower than Marquez but almost a quarter of a second up on the rest of the chasing pack. But after the reigning champion was unable to improve on his second attempt, Quartararo fired in a 1m36.880s, matching Marquez exactly through the first three sectors and finding 0.082s in the final sequence of corners. With the chequered flag approaching, Morbidelli shuffled Marquez down into third place, outpacing the Honda man by 0.008s. Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso was up on Quartararo's provisional pole time three sectors into his best effort, but ultimately came up 0.138s short. Maverick Vinales was the best of the works Yamahas in fifth, having advanced from Q1, and will share the second row with fourth-placed Dovizioso and sixth-placed Cal Crutchlow. Dovizioso's practice pace-setter teammate Danilo Petrucci took seventh, crashing at Turn 1 on his final lap, ahead of Crutchlow's LCR Honda teammate Takaaki Nakagami and Suzuki's Alex Rins, while Pramac Ducati rookie Pecco Bagnaia made up a top 10 split by 0.504s. Marquez's Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo crashed at Turn 2 late on and had to settle for 11th, while the other Suzuki of Joan Mir made up the order in Q2. While Vinales had been relatively comfortable advancing to the pole shoot-out, his factory squadmate Valentino Rossi was consigned to 13th on the grid, despite having led Vinales by 0.007s after their first runs in Q1. As Vinales improved by just over two tenths, Rossi's protege Bagnaia slotted in between the Yamahas shortly before time expired, and the seven-time MotoGP champion was unable to respond and avoid an early qualifying exit. Honda wildcard Stefan Bradl was just a tenth away from advancing to Q2, securing 14th on the grid ahead of Bagnaia's Pramac teammate Jack Miller – who crashed at Turn 2 on his final lap. Aleix Espargaro led Aprilia's efforts in 16th, while squadmate Andrea Iannone had crashed early in the pre-qualifying FP4 session and was forced out of action for the rest of the day. Iannone paid a visit to the Clinica Mobile paddock facility for x-rays on his left ankle, although these showed he'd escaped a fracture. Espargaro's brother Pol was again the benchmark for KTM in 17th, albeit this time only 0.022s clear of Johann Zarco. Qualifying results<doc-sep>The youngest ever rider to take a MotoGP pole position, the first ever pole for the Petronas Yamaha team and a new all-time Jerez lap record. All in all, it wasn't a bad day for Fabio Quartararo. The least qualified, on paper, of the four MotoGP rookies and riding the lowest-spec M1 on the grid, Quartararo has gone from strength-to-strength since his debut last November. Quartararo's lone mistake has been to stall on the sighting lap in Qatar, but he brushed the disappointment aside for escalating 16-8-7 finishes prior to his Spanish Grand Prix heroics. The only riders to feature on pole during the 15-minute Jerez shootout were triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, reigning five-time champion Marc Marquez and ultimately Quartararo, who at 20 years and 14 days replaces Marquez as the youngest pole starter in the premier-class. A dream day for the Sepang outfit was made complete when team-mate Franco Morbidelli levered into second place, 0.082s from Quartararo and 0.008 ahead of Marquez. "The feeling is unbelievable of course," smiled Quartararo, who has been inside the top six throughout the weekend. "When I made the lap time there were two minutes remaining, and I knew that Marc went with three new tyres during qualifying. So I didn’t expect the pole position here. "I think our race pace is good, so I hope to be able to fight for a great result. This pole and Franky's second position are very special for the team. We are a new team in the class and it is incredible to achieve a one-two at only the fourth round of the year. "I also want to thank them because last year [in Moto2] was a tough year in the beginning and they believed in me for MotoGP. So the feeling is incredible for them and for me." Morbidelli, who endured a tough debut MotoGP season on a Marc VDS Honda before joining Petronas and Yamaha, added: "It's a great day for us. We were both super fast. Fabio was able to be fast since the very beginning of the weekend, while I had to chase a little bit. But finally in qualifying we managed to get closer and closer. "I’m just happy. The team deserves these kinds of results because they work very well. The team is made by great people. I’m speaking for both of us, but we feel great inside the team. We feel that there is a lot of passion and a lot of energy around us. This is the demonstration." Quartararo has consistently brushed aside questions over his bike specification, understood to include a lower RPM limit due to fewer engine changes than the A-spec M1s, preferring to concentrate on his own shortcomings. "I still have margin [to improve] my riding style. Today I think we are really, really close but I’m not thinking about the bike at the moment," he said. The #20's style proved well suited to MotoGP in every area except one. "The problem was the braking," he explained. "That was our weak point, but step-by-step with the team we worked on my riding style. "In the Malaysia [test] we struggled a lot, but in Qatar from the first day we could brake late, with big confidence. It was like a natural progression with my riding style." Among those impressed by how quickly Quartararo turned braking into a strength was Morbidelli, who hailed the one-time grand prix winner as a 'great rider'. "I look at Fabio’s data because he’s super fast, so I need to look at it," said Morbidelli, a former Moto2 world champion in his second MotoGP season. "The thing that impressed me was that it’s true that his weak point was braking, but he managed to get it right quite soon and he managed to step it up quite soon. "The braking went from his weak point to his strong point. This shows that he’s a great rider. I like to work with him. To have a great rider as a team-mate helps you because it helps to step up the level of the team." While the satellite Yamahas flourished, factory stars Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi will start fifth and 13th. Quartararo admitted there was no obvious answer as to why the official team was behind them, a situation also seen in previous years at Jerez when countryman Johann Zarco was on a satellite Yamaha. "I don’t know, maybe the riders feel better on this track. I have no answer to this question," said Quartararo. Morbidelli, who took the Petronas team's best result to date with fifth last time in Austin, added: "All Yamahas were fast today because anyway Vale is four tenths slower than us. We are talking about a very small difference. Maverick as well was fast and we were behind him, so we had his tow." The main worry for the Yamahas is that hotter weather forecast for the race will hurt them more than the others. "Today was quite cold and overcast, so the weather was not I think what we will face tomorrow," Morbidelli confirmed. "So this is a bit of a question mark on us. We will have to see what the weather is like tomorrow and we will have to react." Quartararo is currently tenth in the world championship, with almost twice the points of closest rookie rival Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati).<doc-sep>Valentino Rossi has paid credit to Fabio Quartararo on his historic MotoGP pole position as the Petronas Yamaha squad swept to a qualifying 1-2 with Franco Morbidelli and feels “they are faster than me, they rider in a better way” at Jerez. Quartararo has become the youngest-ever pole-sitter in MotoGP after bolting to the Spanish GP pole on the satellite Yamaha run by the new-look Sepang Racing Team who went on to enjoy the perfect qualifying with Morbidelli slotting into second place. With the Petronas Yamaha riders taking the top two spots and out-qualifying the factory Yamaha pair of Rossi (13th) and Maverick Vinales (fifth), Rossi says the overall result came as a surprise but not the speed of both riders at the Spanish track. “I am surprised like everybody that they are one and two, but not surprised about the level of Franco who I know very well, and also Quartararo because from the winter test they were fast on the bike and they liked the bike,” Rossi said. “Here in Jerez they were strong in all practices and today they took the masterpiece as they are first and second so congratulations to them. “Maybe they are better than me, they are faster than me, they ride in a better way, they like more Jerez in the last few years. “For me Jerez has been difficult but it will be important to work tonight as I am not very strong in some areas but if we work well and can improve a little bit my pace is not so bad and I am not so far from them.” Rossi has dismissed the idea of Quartararo having a better package despite being on the older specification Yamaha, which became a frequent theme last year when Johann Zarco would often out-qualify the factory Yamahas when competing for Tech 3. Instead, Rossi puts the pace deficit over a single lap down to the riders and in particular Quartararo’s own ability at Jerez despite it being the rookie’s fourth premier class outing. “From what I know the bike of Quartararo is very similar and it is not like Zarco [in 2018],” he explained. “The four bikes are all very similar. I know that Franco is a little bit more factory with more parts but in the end for Quartararo the chassis is the same. “He rides very well and is able to enter the corner very naturally. In that area I don’t feel very comfortable, I improved on yesterday but I am not fantastic, so we need to work on us.”<doc-sep>Marquez wins the Spanish MotoGP at Jerez to retake the title lead by a single point, having controlled the race from start to finish. Quartararo, who made history as the youngest pole position qualifier, was devastated after being forced out of a safe second by a broken quickshifter at half-distance. Team-mate Morbidelli put early pressure on Marquez but faded backwards. By contrast, Rins charged through the field from ninth, while Vinales just held off Dovizioso for his first podium of the year. Rossi initially struggled to make progress from 13th until the second half of the race, when he began to climb up the order to sixth. CLICK HERE for the new world championship standings . Large parts of the Jerez circuit were resurfaced since the November test, with Michelin bringing four different front and rear tyre options as a result. Smith and Bradl were making wild-card appearances this weekend, while Andrea Iannone was declared unfit to race after injuring his foot in a Saturday fall. An official test will be held back at the circuit on Monday. CLICK HERE for live updates … * Rookie.<doc-sep>
Jorge Navarro claimed his first Moto2 pole position with a strong performance ahead of the intermediate Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. The HDR Heidrun Speed Up rider broke the all time lap record again to finish with a best of 1m 41.182s which held strong as fast laps became hard to come by as the session wound up. Navarro had first beaten the record in FP1 on Friday, and topped the afternoon session too but saw Remy Gardner top FP3, before smashing the lap record again in the crucial final qualifying session. His biggest competition for pole came from Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex), who dropped the gap to just 0.091s but could not quite match his fellow countryman on home soil. The return to Europe saw success for Augusto Fernandez too, he marked his first race back from injury, though still suffering some pain in his hand, with a front row start as he powered to third for the the Flexbox HP40 Team. He tried to pull his team-mate, the unlucky Lorenzo Baldassarri around the track - the Italian’s weekend had been littered with breakdowns and crashes ahead of qualifying - and although he moved into the top ten, seventh was the best the championship leader could manage. They were split by Gardner, who will start fifth for SAG Team, top rookie Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) who’s final dash around the track moved him up from seventeenth to sixth and Fabio DI Giannantonio, who also made late progress on the second Speed Up to fill seventh on the grid, completing a successful outing for the team. Tom Luthi won last time out in Texas but did not seem to have the pace in Spain. He starts eighth for Dynavolt Intact GP. His team-mate Marcel Schrotter was the pole man in Austin, but is even further down the grid, in 14th position. Tetsuta Nagashima was a solid eighth on the second SAG machine, while Brad Binder was the best of the riders to make it through form Q1 in tenth for Red Bull and was the highest placing KTM entry. Sam Lowes pushed hard to find improvements but could only climb to eleventh in the closing stages for Gresini. Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made up some places after coming through Q1 to claim twelfth while Luca Marini fought his way to 13th on the second Sky Racing Team VR46 bike. Mattia Pasini returns as a replacement rider again, this time for Jake Dixon at at the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team. After his fabulous fourth in Texas hopes were high, but his first time on a KTM proved trickier, he starts 24th . Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), who won the Moto3 race in Jerez last season, could only manage a best of 30th. Khairul Idham Pawi was declared unfit to take any further part in the race weekend after fracturing a finger on his right hand in his practice crash.