At his home track, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia Racing set a new lap record in the last seconds of the second qualifying session to take pole position for the Catalunya Grand Prix.
Espargaro, who announced this week that he will retire at the end of the 2024 season, beat Francesco Bagnaia, the current Ducati champion, with a final lap time of 1:38.190.
Jorge Martin from Pramac Racing, who was leading the championship, lost his lead and crashed near the end of the session, finishing sixth fastest behind Brad Binder of KTM.
In the race, Bagnaia will have a chance to catch up to Martin in the overall standings since he will start from the second row.