Marc Marquez denied Fabio Quartararo pole with an all-time lap record at the Italian Grand Prix as Valentino Rossi endured a qualifying nightmare on home soil.

After Danilo Petrucci set a new track record at Mugello in practice and Andrea Dovizioso broke the top MotoGP speed record in FP3 by getting up to a staggering 356.7 kilometres per hour, championship leader Marquez took centre stage again in qualifying.

World champion Marquez, eyeing a third successive race victory, used his skill and experience to ensure Petrucci's mark did not last for long and he will start at the front on Sunday after a time of one minute and 45.519 seconds.

The Repsol Honda rider has been struggling with illness, but the he nipped in with time running out to take pole from the impressive Quartararo by 0.214secs.

Petrucci, under pressure to keep his Ducati seat with Jack Miller making a case to replace him, continued his strong pace from practice to take third spot ahead of Franco Morbidelli.

Rossi took pole in his home race last year, but will start from way back in 18th place after being forced into Q1 along with Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins and a number of other big names.

Dovizioso – second to Marquez in the standings - made it through to Q2 but had to settle for ninth on the grid, with Rossi almost crashing on a miserable day for the Yamaha man.


 

Provisional classification

1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda): 1:45.519secs
2. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) +0.214secs
3. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) +0.362s
4. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) +0.440s
5. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) +0.510s
6. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +0.560s
7. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.662s
8. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) +0.741s
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +0.774s
10. Takaaki Nakagami (Ducati) +0.868s