Already 10 different MotoGP drivers have won qualifying for the Grand Prix since the beginning of the 2022 season. Ducati racers have the advantage, but Aprilia, Yamaha, and even Honda are good at one fast lap.
Having won an unexpected (even for himself) victory in qualifying Q2 at the Thai Grand Prix in Buriram, Marco Bezzecchi from the Mooney VR46 Racing Team became the second rookie and the 10th racer of the Royal Class since the beginning of the season, who managed to beat experienced colleagues.
Thus, a new all-time absolute record in MotoGP (since 1949) has been set.
Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Racing Team became the 10th MotoGP qualifier winner in 2022.
The statistics inexorably tell us that the Ducati Desmosedici and Red Army riders can work wonders on the same fast lap: in 13 of the 17 MotoGP races in 2022, Ducati riders have started from the pole position. In addition, they have broken into the top 10 more often than their rivals, mainly at the end of FP2 (during Time Attack) or in FP3.
Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia of the factory Ducati Lenovo Team is confidently leading his peers with five qualifying victories, plus five more times he has started from the front of the grid, being 2-3. According to preliminary calculations, it is Bagnaia who is the undisputed leader in the battle for the new BMW M3 Competition Touring as part of the MotoGP BMW M Award 2022 standings.
Three key rivals for the Bagnaia – Fabio Quartararo, Ales Espargaro, and Marc Marquez, representatives of the factory teams Yamaha, Aprilia, and Honda are significantly inferior to the leader Ducati in performance at the qualifiers this year. All of them are focused on a long battle during the race. But starting from a good position has become too important to fight for victory and the podium, therefore… Ducati’s new strategy – capturing the first lines of the starting grid is working successfully!
MotoGP qualifying win statistics from early 2022:
5 – Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2 – Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing)
2 – Ales Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)
2 – Joan Zarco (Pramac Racing)
1 – Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha)
1 – Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda)
1 – Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team)
1 – Fabio Di Gianantonio (Gresini Racing)
1 – Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing)
1 – Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team).