SPIELBERG, Austria (Reuters) - Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini clinched his first MotoGP pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday after producing a blistering final lap at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Bastianini, a three-time winner in the premier class, snatched the pole from Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on the final lap, finishing 0.024s ahead of him.
Bagnaia’s teammate Jack Miller came third as Ducati completed a front-row lockout in a tight final qualifying session.
“It had been a long time for me without a pole position,” said Italian Bastianini, who made his premier class debut at Qatar in 2021.
“Today we arrived prepared for the qualifying and at the end I am very happy, also for Gresini and Ducati, we are on top for tomorrow.”
Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin finished fourth and Johann Zarco came sixth as world championship leader Fabio Quartararo had to settle for the fifth spot on his Yamaha.
“It will be a really hard race because Fabio is really fast here, but I want to arrive tomorrow and battle with this guy,” Bastianini added.