DOHA, March 27 (Reuters) - Francesco Bagnaia stormed to his maiden MotoGP pole on his factory Ducati bike at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix and set a new lap record in the process at the Losail Circuit on Saturday.
Bagnaia will start alongside the Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales on the front row while Petronas Yamaha's Valentino Rossi narrowly missed out to start fourth.
Ducati's Jack Miller, who topped the time charts in pre-season testing and unofficially broke the lap record, will start fifth on the grid alongside Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) in sixth.
Bagnaia set the pace in the second qualifying session when he set a new lap record after taking advantage of the slipstream behind Rossi before Miller.
Quartararo then broke the record again on his Yamaha debut but Bagnaia reclaimed pole on his second attempt, becoming the first rider to break the 1:53 barrier.