Luca Marini sealed his maiden MotoGP pole at the Indonesian Grand Prix in a dramatic qualifying session as Francesco Bagnaia could only manage 13th.
The Ducati Team’s Bagnaia will have to start from the fifth row of the grid after he could only finish third in Qualifying 1 at the Mandalika International Street Circuit.
After going top in Q1, Bagnaia was first knocked off the summit by VR46 Ducati’s Marini before his factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini rubbed salt in the wound, pushing the 2022 champion down to third and denying him a crucial spot in Qualifying 2 when he moved into second behind Marini.
A deflated Bagnaia now faces an uphill battle in the Sprint as he continues to fight for the title with Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin with six rounds left in the championship.
The Italian has been outscored by Martin in the last seven consecutive races and holds a slender lead of three points over his primary title rival, who will line up in sixth position on the second row.
It was the worst qualifying result of the season for Bagnaia, who has clinched more poles than any other rider this year with six in total.
In an equally sensational Q2, the lap record was blitzed by Marini, who is making his comeback in Indonesia after breaking his collarbone in a crash in India.
However, the Italian is due to serve a Long Lap Penalty he received after running into the rear of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in the Sprint at Buddh, causing his injury.
Aprilia Racing riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales were second and third respectively as Marini denied the Italian manufacturer an expected pole after they had set the pace on Friday.
Espargaro briefly went top in Q2 before team-mate Maverick Viñales did a 1:30.598s to put down an early marker.
Bezzecchi crashed at the tricky Turn 16, bringing out the yellow flag at the start of the session. The VR46 Ducati rider was passed fit to race following FP1 on Friday after breaking his right collarbone last weekend in a training accident and undergoing surgery.
Espargaro regained the top spot from Viñales after recording a 1:30.501s, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo went third and Fabio Di Giannantonio fourth on the Gresini Ducati before the second time attacks.
Title challenger Martin also crashed out at Turn 16 in another dramatic twist five minutes into Q2 after running wide onto the kerb and tumbling off. Martin quickly leapt to his feet and made his way back to pit lane on the back of a marshal’s scooter.
He returned to the track with around six minutes to go and went fourth-fastest after an untidy lap on the Pramac Ducati.
As the final time attacks began, Espargaro set a new lap record of 1:30.301s to lead Marini but Viñales soon raised the bar further to take over with a 1:30.009s.
Marini, though, would have the final say as he posted a 1:29.978s to secure his first premier class pole position with a new track lap record.
Viñales was only 0.031s slower in second with Espargaro completing the front row in third.
Quartararo, who had a lap time cancelled for exceeding track limits, claimed fourth to head up Row 2, where the Frenchman will be joined by Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder and Martin.
Di Giannantonio was seventh ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who was another rider caught out in Q2 at Turn 16.
Bezzecchi will start from ninth while the top 12 in Q2 was finalised by Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), Bastianini and Miguel Oliveira on the RNF Aprilia.
Frenchman Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) were 14th and 15th as they filled the fifth row with Bagnaia, who will have his work cut out to hold on to his narrow championship lead this weekend.
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