Arizona Tribune - Italy's Bezzecchi claims San Marino MotoGP pole as Marquez brothers denied

Aprilia rider Bezzecchi delighted the Italian crowd at the Marco Simoncelli circuit in Misano Adriatico by clocking a top time of one minute and 30.134 seconds, just 0.088sec ahead of Alex Marquez.

Alex Marquez had looked to be heading for a second pole in as many weeks ahead of his sibling and runaway championship leader Marc Marquez until Bezzecchi's rapid final lap gave the 26-year-old Italian a second pole of the season.

And Marc Marquez was denied a place on the front row for both Saturday's sprint race and the Grand Prix on Sunday by Fabio Quartararo, who had to come through the first qualifying session but secured third place on the grid at the last by finishing 0.94sec behind Bezzecchi.

However the Spaniard still has a chance to further increase his whopping 182-point championship lead over Alex Marquez, as he has won 14 of this season's 15 sprints.

Barring disaster at Misano, the Spaniard will have a chance to win the title at the Japan MotoGP in a fortnight, moving level on seven championship triumphs with his great rival Valentino Rossi.

Joan Mir missed out on qualifying and will not take part in the sprint after the Honda rider failed to recover form a neck injury suffered in a crash during practice on Friday.

W.Stewart--AT