2021 MotoGP | Spanish GP: Quartararo Takes His Fifth-Consecutive Pole

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) continues to reign on the 2021 MotoGP, as the World Championship leader will once again start on pole position. The Frenchman is the first Yamaha rider to land five poles in a row since 2010 – this and more stats to dive into ahead of race day.Quartararo has qualified on pole position for the fifth successive races (setting a new all-time lap record in Catalunya) becoming the first rider to do so since Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) from Valencia 2013 to Italy 2014 (seven in a row). This is his 15th pole position in the premier class, equalling Wayne Rainey.This is the first time that a Yamaha rider takes five pole positions in a row in MotoGP since Jorge Lorenzo back in 2010. This is the third successive pole position of a Yamaha rider in Catalunya in MotoGP following Fabio Quartararo/2019 and Franco Morbidelli/2020. This is the 10th overall pole position for Yamaha in the premier class at the track.Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), who crashed in Q2, has qualified second as the highest-placed Ducati rider, which is his best qualifying result since he was also second in Valencia last year. Similarly, his partner, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has qualified in ninth place which is the third time so far this year he fails to start from the front two rows of the grid, along with Portugal (when he finished the race in second) and France (when he finished fourth in the race).Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified fourth as the highest-placed KTM rider, which is the best qualifying of KTM rider since he was on pole position in Portugal last year.Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), third place fastest Yamaha in qualifying, has qualified sixth for his best Saturday result since France. He will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time in MotoGP at Catalunya.Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT), who is the most successful rider in GP racing in Catalunya with 10 wins, has qualified 11th which is his best qualifying since he was ninth in France earlier this year, but his second worst in Catalunya in the premier class after 2017 when he was 13th on the grid.Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), who also passed through Q1 and crashed in Q2, has qualified in 12th as the highest-placed Honda rider. This is the second successive year there is no Honda rider within the top 10 on the grid in Catalunya.Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) failed to get into Q2 for the third time (along with Italy 2015 and Spain 2021) and has qualified in 13th place for his second-worst qualifying result of the year so far after Spain when he was 14th.MotoGP