On a day when the lap record was broken by several riders across the two qualifying sessions, Gresini Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was the first rider to dip below the 1:52.00s mark and was soon joined by teammate Alex Marquez.

However, as the sun began to set in Lusail, where the track had been completely resurfaced, Marini went fastest on his final lap with a time of 1:51.762s for the second pole of his career after leading the grid in Indonesia last month.

Marini’s lap time was 1s faster than the previous record but the 26-year-old felt he could have gone faster.

“Not perfect, every time you think you can do something more…But anyway, fantastic lap. I really enjoyed riding the bike today,” Marini said.

“Let’s see the tyres everyone chooses (for the sprint and race). For me, the soft front tyre is working really well.”

Marini will be joined on the front row by Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez, while championship leader Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati will start fourth on the grid, one position ahead of fellow title contender Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing.

Bagnaia leads Martin by 14 points with two rounds left in the MotoGP season – Qatar and Valencia.

Johann Zarco will start alongside teammate Martin on the second row while six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez could only go seventh-fastest despite benefitting from a tow when his Honda tucked into Bagnaia’s slipstream.

Aleix Espargaro was fined €10,000 and handed a six-place grid penalty after the Spaniard collided with Franco Morbidelli and took his frustration out by slapping the Yamaha rider on the helmet during practice earlier.

The Aprilia rider, who has two race wins this season, had qualified 10th fastest but will start 16th on the grid tomorrow.

LCR Honda’s Iker Lecuona was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Enea Bastianini in the first qualifying session.