If qualifying weren’t enough to serve as an appetizer, one of the main scenarios for tomorrow’s race will be the battle between Yamaha and Ducati.
With Francesco Bagnaia on pole and the other Ducati riders Jack Miller and Johann Zarco on the second row, it’s a safe bet that one or more Ducatis will lead into the first corner.
And with the top seven bikes on the grid, all comprised of Yamaha and Ducati riders, racing strategy will be key.
The question of how to approach the start of the race brought some interesting and different answers from Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales during the post-qualifying press conference.
“My goal is to have a good start and good first laps and to be aggressive from the start,” Quartararo said.
“I did a couple of passes in the test which I find pretty good. I think the first five laps will be so important and then we’ll see.
“I hope that in P2 I will not be at the bottom of the position, but for me, from the first to the fifth or sixth lap, it will become more normal.
“The first laps are always so aggressive, but I think in the first laps we have to be the guys who are aggressive and take positions.”
Vinales took a more methodical approach when asked how he was going to tackle the difficulties of the first laps and passing points.
The 26-year-old said: “The race here is very long, a strategy you can think of in two ways.
“You can push in the last ten laps or the first. The last ten laps have always been very critical for the tire, so we have to be very smart about how we race.
“We only have a couple of areas to pass and we need grip. So we have to overtake but not burn the rubber, so we have to be smart.”