Valencia MotoGP Race Day Guide | Race start midnight AEDT

Valencia MotoGP 2018
Race Day Guide

MotoGP Race starts at midnight AEDT

(Warm up times added)

It is currently a wet track and raining at Valencia

After passing though Q1 for the sixth time in 2018, Maverick Viñales has qualified on pole position for the sixth time in the premier class – the 17th time of his career – and the first time since Aragón last year. 

Maverick Viñales became the second rider since the current qualifying format was introduced in 2013 to qualify on pole position after passing through Q1, along with Marc Márquez in Thailand earlier this year. On Sunday, he will be aiming to become the fourth rider to win the race after passing through Q1 with Jack Miller (Assen – 2016), Cal Crutchlow (Phillip Island – 2016) and Marc Márquez (Buriam - 2018). In this morning’s wet warm-up Vinales was 11th quickest. 

Álex Rins has qualified in second, which is his best qualifying result since he stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2017. This is Suzuki’s best starting result since Andrea Iannone was second on the grid in the Americas this year, after Marc Márquez was given a three-grid positions penalty. Rins was 12th quickest in the wet morning warm-up. 

2018 MotoGP runner-up, Andrea Dovizioso completes the front row on the grid, which is his first front row start since he was on pole position in Japan. He will be aiming to become the first Ducati rider to win at Valencia since Casey Stoner back in 2008. Dovizioso was fifth quickest in this morning’s wet warm-up. 

Highest-placed Independent Team rider, Danilo Petrucci heads the second row on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was also fourth in Austria earlier this season.

After crashing in Q2, Marc Márquez has qualified in fifth place. Since the opening race in Qatar, Marc Márquez has always qualified on the first two rows on the grid. The World Champion was quickest in this morning’s wet warm-up. 

Top KTM rider, Pol Espargaró has qualified in sixth on the grid, equalling the best qualifying result for KTM since the Austrian joined the MotoGP class, from Australia last year.

Andrea Iannone, who also passed through Q1, heads the third row on the grid and will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time at Valencia since 2016 when he finished in third place.

Aleix Espargaró has qualified eighth, which is the best qualifying result for an Aprilia rider since he was seventh in Assen this year. In addition, this is the first time that six current manufacturers have filled the top eight on the grid. Aleix Espargaro was second quickest in this morning’s wet warm-up session.

The most successful rider at Valencia with seven Grand Prix wins, including last year – his last podium finish so far – Dani Pedrosa has qualified in ninth on the grid, his best qualifying result since he was seventh-fastest in Thailand.

Second across the line at Valencia last year, Johann Zarco, who is leading the Independent Team rider classification, starts from eleventh on the grid after a crash in Q2. It’s his lowest qualifying result since he was 14th in Aragón.

The highest-placed Ducati rider across the line last year at Valencia, Michele Pirro, completes the fourth row on the grid.

Valentino Rossi, who was in Q1 for the third time this year, has qualified in 16th, which is his worst qualifying result since he was 18th in Aragón earlier this season. This is Rossi’s worst starting position on the grid at Valencia since he was 26th in 2015 after having been given a penalty. Valentino Rossi though salvaged some honour this morning when he was third quickest in the wet warm-up session. 

Jorge Lorenzo, who missed the last four races, has qualified in 13th on the grid. Jorge Lorenzo has won four times in the MotoGP class at Valencia. The last of them was in 2016 on his last appearance for Yamaha.

Tom Lüthi has qualified in 17th on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was 15th at Silverstone earlier this year but the race was cancelled due to weather conditions.

WARM UP
Pos.	Rider	Bike	Km/h	Time
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	307.5	1’40.154
2	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	306.7	1’40.959
3	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	304.9	1’41.109
4	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	306.8	1’41.168
5	Jack MILLER	Ducati	302.2	1’41.183
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	308.6	1’41.573
7	Franco MORBIDELLI	Honda	298.8	1’41.583
8	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	302.5	1’41.590
9	Bradley SMITH	KTM	302.7	1’41.795
10	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	297.5	1’41.809
11	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	304.8	1’41.871
12	Alex RINS	Suzuki	303.7	1’41.884
13	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	300.2	1’41.966
14	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	309.0	1’41.987
15	Scott REDDING	Aprilia	301.5	1’42.454
16	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	304.9	1’42.458
17	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	299.2	1’42.469
18	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	304.9	1’42.490
19	Stefan BRADL	Honda	297.6	1’42.574
20	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Yamaha	304.6	1’42.726
21	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	305.7	1’42.774
22	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	300.9	1’42.936
23	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	297.9	1’43.665
24	Jordi TORRES	Ducati	301.5	1’45.068

MotoGP Q2
Pos.	Rider	Bike	Km/h	Time
1	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	313.7	1’31.312
2	Alex RINS	Suzuki	312.0	1’31.380
3	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	318.5	1’31.392
4	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	314.3	1’31.414
5	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	315.9	1’31.442
6	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	315.0	1’31.577
7	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	311.6	1’31.629
8	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	308.2	1’31.630
9	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	314.3	1’32.140
10	Jack MILLER	Ducati	311.0	1’32.145
11	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	313.1	1’32.179
12	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	318.4	1’32.310

MotoGP Q1
Pos.	Rider	Bike	Km/h	Time
1	Andrea IANNONE ↑	Suzuki	313.6	1’31.382
2	Maverick VIÑALES ↑	Yamaha	314.9	1’31.858
3	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	315.4	1’31.900
4	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	307.6	1’31.928
5	Franco MORBIDELLI	Honda	308.8	1’32.385
6	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	311.7	1’32.452
7	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	308.9	1’32.545
8	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	313.6	1’32.547
9	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	314.3	1’32.568
10	Stefan BRADL	Honda	319.0	1’32.708
11	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Yamaha	312.1	1’32.749
12	Bradley SMITH	KTM	309.2	1’33.011

Moto2

Luca Marini has qualified on pole position for the second time on what is the 54th start of his Grand Prix career. This is the sixth front row start in Marini’s Grand Prix career.

Xavi Vierge has qualified in second on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was also second in France earlier this year. Vierge will be aiming to win his first Grand Prix race on what is the 59th GP start of his career.

Marcel Schrötter completes the front row on the grid, which is his seventh front row start since the opening race in Qatar.

Heading the second row on the grid is the 2018 Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia. This is the 17th time this year Bagnaia qualified on the first two rows of the grid.

Lorenzo Baldassarri starts from the middle of the second row, which is his best qualifying result since he was also fifth in Japan.

The highest-placed KTM rider, Sam Lowes has qualified in sixth on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was fourth in Germany earlier this season. Lowes finished in fourth place in the Moto2 race two years ago at Valencia.

2018 Moto2 runner-up, Miguel Oliveira, who won the Moto2 race in Valencia last year, starts from tenth, which is the 15th time this year he has failed to qualify within the top six.

Oliveira’s teammate Brad Binder, who stood on the podium for the third successive time in Valencia last year in third place, has qualified in 11th on the grid, which is his lowest qualifying result since he was 16th at Silverstone.

Moto2 Qualifying Results
Pos.	Rider	Bike	Km/h	Time
1	Luca MARINI	Kalex	257.8	1’35.777
2	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	260.2	1’35.804
3	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	259.2	1’35.945
4	Francesco BAGNAIA	Kalex	257.4	1’36.173
5	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	257.8	1’36.270
6	Sam LOWES	KTM	257.3	1’36.335
7	Joan MIR	Kalex	258.7	1’36.336
8	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	260.2	1’36.380
9	Fabio QUARTARARO	Speed Up	255.6	1’36.396
10	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	259.7	1’36.429
11	Brad BINDER	KTM	260.2	1’36.464
12	Jesko RAFFIN	Kalex	256.6	1’36.499
13	Simone CORSI	Kalex	256.1	1’36.515
14	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	261.5	1’36.532
15	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	258.8	1’36.572
16	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	258.8	1’36.580
17	Remy GARDNER	Tech 3	252.0	1’36.595
18	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	258.3	1’36.638
19	Joe ROBERTS	NTS	255.0	1’36.656
20	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	259.8	1’36.667
21	Iker LECUONA	KTM	255.7	1’36.671
22	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	258.2	1’36.819
23	Jorge NAVARRO	Kalex	258.0	1’36.909
24	Dominique AEGERTER	KTM	260.0	1’36.976
25	Hector GARZO	Tech 3	253.0	1’37.444
26	Niki TUULI	Kalex	257.5	1’37.457
27	Tommaso MARCON	Speed Up	254.1	1’37.483
28	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	252.3	1’38.351
29	Isaac VIÑALES	Suter	254.7	1’38.406
30	Xavi CARDELUS	Kalex	253.9	1’38.718
31	Jules DANILO	Kalex	255.9	1’39.275
32	Lukas TULOVIC	Suter	250.6	1’39.600

Moto3

Tony Arbolino has qualified on pole position for the first time since Argentina earlier this year. This is Arbolino’s second pole position on what is the 36th start of his Grand Prix career.

Arbolino’s pole position at Valencia is the 15th for a Honda rider since the opening race in Qatar, equalling last year. The last time Honda have had more than 15 pole positions in a single season was in 2015 with 16.

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat has qualified on second on the grid, which is the best qualifying result of his Grand Prix career. He equals the best ever qualifying result by a Thai rider in any class of Grand Prix racing, which had been set by Ratthapark Wilairot in the Moto2 class at Assen in 2010.

The highest placed KTM rider on the grid is John McPhee, who starts from the front row for the fourth time in 2018, one more time than last year. McPhee is looking to finish on the podium for the first time since he was third in Germany earlier this season.

Wildcard at the Valencia GP, Can Öncü heads the second row on the grid, which is the best qualifying result for a Turkish rider in Grand Prix racing since Kenan Sofuoglu was the fourth-fastest qualified on his Grand Prix debut in the Moto2 class, in Portugal back in 2010.

Arón Canet, who was on pole position for the first time in his Grand Prix career in Valencia two years ago, has qualified in fifth on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was third in Misano earlier this year.

Second in the Championship, Marco Bezzecchi completes the second row on the grid. This is the 11th time this year Bezzecchi has qualified on the first two rows on the grid.

2018 Moto3 World Champion Jorge Martín has qualified 13th, which is his worst qualifying result since he was also 13th in Thailand earlier this year.

Bezzecchi’s closest rival for second overall, Fabio Di Giannantonio, has qualified in 15th, which is the fourth successive time he has failed to qualify on the first three rows of the grid.

Moto3 Qualifying Results
Pos.	Rider	Bike	Km/h	Time
1	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	219.0	1’46.773
2	Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT	Honda	215.3	1’47.017
3	John MCPHEE	KTM	215.8	1’47.116
4	Can ONCU	KTM	214.1	1’47.336
5	Aron CANET	Honda	215.6	1’47.431
6	Marco BEZZECCHI	KTM	215.9	1’47.776
7	Marcos RAMIREZ	KTM	219.0	1’47.783
8	Jakub KORNFEIL	KTM	217.6	1’47.796
9	Albert ARENAS	KTM	215.9	1’47.826
10	Raul FERNANDEZ	KTM	213.7	1’47.880
11	Alonso LOPEZ	Honda	213.0	1’47.896
12	Vicente PEREZ	KTM	215.6	1’48.069
13	Jorge MARTIN	Honda	219.0	1’48.124
14	Enea BASTIANINI	Honda	216.7	1’48.216
15	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Honda	214.7	1’48.357
16	Jaume MASIA	KTM	216.6	1’48.435
17	Dennis FOGGIA	KTM	220.6	1’48.543
18	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	216.3	1’48.614
19	Darryn BINDER	KTM	213.3	1’48.772
20	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Honda	218.4	1’48.894
21	Kaito TOBA	Honda	211.5	1’49.027
22	Kazuki MASAKI	KTM	217.2	1’49.469
23	Gabriel RODRIGO	KTM	215.4	1’49.696
24	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	215.0	1’49.802
25	Ayumu SASAKI	Honda	217.2	1’49.980
26	Niccolò ANTONELLI	Honda	217.0	1’50.011
27	Philipp OETTL	KTM	214.5	1’50.145
28	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	216.7	1’51.870
29	Stefano NEPA	KTM	213.0	1’52.119
30	Izam IKMAL	Honda	214.8	1’53.093