For the first time since returning to MotoGP, Aprilia went through to Q2 and Alvaro Bautista rode his RS-GP to the fourth row on the grid.

The Misano Saturday had started off well for Bautista, who rode an excellent third practice session. In fact, in FP3 the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Spaniard put the tenth best time on the boards at 1’33.480. The combined rankings of the three sessions valid for going through to Q2, however, relegated him to eleventh place, when Pirro's withdrawal from direct qualification for Q2 opened up the doors to the session that decides the order on the first four rows of the grid. In the decisive session, Alvaro did not repeat his times from the morning sessions, finishing in twelfth place, which earns him the fourth row of the starting grid tomorrow and is the best grid position thus far for the fledgling RS-GP.

Bradl also had a very good day, missing out on Q2 by 301 thousandths of a second, but the third best time in the session (with a lap at 1’33.399) earned him the thirteenth overall place and therefore the best spot on the fifth row. The good performance by Bautista and Bradl in qualifying at Misano marks an important benchmark in the RS-GP project's growth.