Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller has snatched his maiden MotoGP pole position in Argentina with a massive gamble on slick tyres to beat Dani Pedrosa by less than two-tenths of a second with Johann Zarco completing the front row.
Miller proved that fortune favours the brave and the young Australian was the first to switch to slicks as the Termas De Rio Hondo tarmac began to dry.
After nearly crashing on two separate laps as he pushed through standing water in turns seven and eight, Miller kept it all together for his first-ever pole position - and the first for his country since Casey Stoner retired.
Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow also both opted for slicks on their second runs but quickly changed their minds. Another pit stop meant they ran out of time to set quick laps on wets and finished in sixth and tenth respectively - Crutchlow banging the tank of his LCR Honda in frustration.
Zarco takes his sixth front-row start on the bounce while Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat is in the middle of the second row after following Pedrosa around to finish only half a second off the pole time.
It was a relative disaster for the Movistar Yamaha squad as wet weather again proves to be the M1’s undoing. Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi finished in ninth and 11th places respectively. Both were notified of other riders’ change to slicks but opted to stay out on wets, and were two seconds off the pace, give or take.
Alex Rins put in a cracking final run to bag the middle of the second row and edge reigning champion Marquez to the outside while Aleix Espargaro came through from qualifying one and held pole until the dying moments.
As Miller and two of the Hondas changed to slicks, Espargaro stuck to his wet guns and set a 1’47.845 before rolling into the gravel at turn one. Andrea Iannone, on the second GSX-RR, finished in 12th place and nearly three seconds down.
It was another nightmare Jorge Lorenzo as not only did he fail to move into qualifying two but he was bumped to 14th place by Karel Abraham last lap of qualifying one.
The works Ducati man ended one place ahead of Britain’s Scott Redding who will start from 15th on the Aprilia. Wet weather demon Danilo Petrucci will be disappointed with his performance, finishing in 18th behind Pol Espargaro and Xavier Simeon. Bradley Smith will start from 21st.
