While team-mate Jack M♔iller slid his way to a sensational pole position on last year's Ducati, GP18 rider Danilo Petrucci was left to look on from the pits.

"I'm h♉appy for Jack, who took a big risk [with slicks] but it paid off," he said.

Petrucci didn't even make the second and final part of qualifying after failing to advance through Qualifying 1, leavinꦏg him just🐟 18th on the grid.

The Italian's problems started on🅺 Friday when - like factory Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and 🔯Andrea Dovizioso - he had been left outside the top ten.

Fifth place in the fully wet FP4 session provided some optimism for ℱthe Pramac rider, but he struggled as soon as the track began to dry in qualifying.

"A very difficult day. At the end I think yesterday was a big mistake in FP2, to not go into the top ten, and this made our plan today very, very difficult,🍌" he said.

"But anyway in FP4 I was quite fast but was very, very wet and so I chose a wet set-up for Qualifying 1 but the track started to dry and my feeling with the♛ front of the bike was very difficult.

"It was ver🦹y difficult to carry the speed inside the corner, I feel always the front closing and then my lap time was not so good.

"Tomorrow we෴ will see. The problem is the conditions affect us very very much. We have been fast in FP4 with the full wet, but from the first moment when the track began to dry the bike b♍ecame very difficult to ride."

Lorenzo also failed to reach Qualifying 2 and will star🉐t from 14th position, with Qatar winner Dovizioso lining up eighth on the grid𒊎.