MotoGP went out for their first qualifying session of 2021. It was the first race of a doubleheader at Qatar, where the teams Haven been since 2019. Q1 was the first session. Riders like Juan Mir and Taka Nakagami trying to get into the top two and thus, Q2.
The happy hour was terrific. Enea Bastianini pulling a massive lap out to go fastest in the dying moments. There were other riders on hot laps too though. World Champion Mir going fastest near the end. Jorge Martin has a good lap going but threw it away with a crash at the final turn. Then, right at the end, Bastianini was pushed out of the top two by Nakagami, who would join Mir in Q2.
Then it was Q2. The 15-minute session to decide pole position. The lap record went only 5 minutes in. Francesco Bagnaia put the best banker lap in, but the question was would we get a 1.52sec lap? Quartararo came incredibly close, with a 1.53.038 on his Yamaha.
Then it was crunch time. The last five minutes of Q2. Who would put it on pole, and will we get into the 1.52s? The answer was yes. Bagnaia put a storming lap in to go pole by 0.3sec. He obliterated the lap record by over half a second. Second place on the grid was Fabio Quartararo, followed by Maverick Viñales. the MotoGP outright speed record was another that went. Johann Zarco becoming the first man to go over 360km/h or 225mph, with 362.8km/h.
