Johann Zarco steered his 2019-spec Ducati machine to a shock first pole for his Avintia outfit, while Fabio Quartararo crashed out on his final flying lap. Zarco languished down in ninth following a subdued opening gambit in Q2, but managed to get a handy slipstream as he began his final pair of qualifying laps behind several over bikes ahead. He set a blistering opening sector on his final tour-over two-and-a-half tenths quicker than anyone else-an advantage he managed to expand to 0.303 as he crossed the line to snatch provisional pole from Quartararo. The Frenchman looked to be the only man capable of denying Zarco and Avintia a dream result, the Petronas SRT rider just over a tenth...
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