MotoGP Argentina GP: Polesitter Espargaro heads Quartararo in warm-up

Due to the freight delays causing Friday’s action to be cancelled, MotoGP elected to extend Sunday’s morning warm-up session to 40 minutes to allow the riders to recoup some lost track time.

In the early stages of warm-up, Pramac’s Johann Zarco led the way with a 1m39.452, though was soon deposed by poleman Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia.

Ahead of his 200th MotoGP start, Espargaro stormed to an historic first pole for Aprilia in the modern era on Saturday and continued to show strong pace in the warm-up.

Espargaro would eventually get his pace down to a 1m38.648s with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.

This time would go unchallenged through to the chequered flag, with Quartararo – who will start the race from sixth – 0.244 seconds adrift in second.

Alex Rins was third on the Suzuki ahead of Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati, who will launch from second on the grid later today having been denied pole at the death on Saturday.

Maverick Vinales continues to show strong form on the sister factory Aprilia in fifth, which is where he qualified, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was sixth.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

After a difficult Saturday, Bagnaia will start from 13th later today having been promoted a spot by a three-place grid penalty for team-mate Jack Miller.

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira was seventh in warm-up but will have work to do from 16th on the grid later today.

Team-mate Brad Binder shadowed him on Sunday morning in eighth, 0.398s off the pace, while LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was the only Honda inside the top 10 at the end of warm-up in ninth.

Johann Zarco on the sister Pramac Ducati completed the top 10 ahead of Suzuki’s Joan Mir, while Miller was 17th.

After a storming day for Valentino Rossi’s squad on Saturday having been one of the team’s most affected by the freight delays, its Sunday got off to a terrible start.

Marco Bezzecchi crashed through the fast Turn 6 left-hander early in the session, before team-mate Luca Marini – who is due to start the race third – fell from his VR46 Ducati at Turn 2 in the final 16 minutes.

The 2022 MotoGP Argentina GP will get underway at 3pm local time (7pm BST).

MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix warm-up classification

Cla	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'38.648
2	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'38.892	0.244
3	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'38.912	0.264
4	Jorge Martin	Ducati	1'38.933	0.285
5	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	1'38.939	0.291
6	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'38.954	0.306
7	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'39.042	0.394
8	Brad Binder	KTM	1'39.046	0.398
9	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'39.073	0.425
10	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1'39.085	0.437
11	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'39.172	0.524
12	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1'39.184	0.536
13	Pol Espargaro	Honda	1'39.237	0.589
14	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'39.240	0.592
15	Darryn Binder	Yamaha	1'39.335	0.687
16	Marco Bezzecchi	Ducati	1'39.437	0.789
17	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'39.518	0.870
18	Alex Marquez	Honda	1'39.524	0.876
19	Raúl Fernández	KTM	1'39.661	1.013
20	Remy Gardner	KTM	1'39.706	1.058
21	Andrea Dovizioso	Yamaha	1'39.746	1.098
22	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Ducati	1'39.779	1.131
23	Luca Marini	Ducati	1'39.792	1.144
24	Stefan Bradl	Honda	1'39.802	1.154
View full results