Marquez locks up 10th pole of season

The MotoGP™ pole was secured by Marc Marquez in Q2 at the Hertz British Grand Prix, while Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo also qualified on the front row.

Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) grabbed his 10th pole of the season right at the end of the qualifying shootout at Silverstone, clocking a 2:00.829 to secure the top spot on the gird as he looks for an immediate return to winning ways, after his fourth place Brno race finish.

Marquez commented, “It was a difficult qualifying session, because it was hard to get heat into the front tire. However, I am happy with pole position – more than anything because of how comfortable I am feeling this weekend. I am finding it easy to set a fast pace, and this is important at this track, which is bumpy and long. Let’s hope that we have a sunny day tomorrow, or at least that it doesn’t rain, and we will try to fight for the win right from the first lap.”

The hard work of Ducati Corse is beginning to show as Dovizioso claimed second on the grid for the third race in succession. The factory Ducati rider had been just behind Marquez for the majority of the weekend, the soft tires proving helpful in the colder English weather.

Dovizioso came into Q2 having run second in FP4 with a 2:02.610. His time improved to a 2:01.140 in Q2, 0.311s from pole setter Marquez. The factory Ducati rider set the lap without the use of a tow in the closing stages of the session.

Dovizioso explained, “It was another good qualifying and another good weekend. Every practice we were towards the front with the medium tire, our race tire. I think we’re closer to the fastest rider this weekend and we have to wait for the weather. But starting from the first row is always important so we can try to fight with the top guys.

“It’s hard to be consistent in the race, especially with the drop off of the tire. I really have to work and use a lot of energy to stay with the front. The team made a great job, but we know tomorrow will be tough. We’re in a better position though and getting closer,” he expanded.

Despite his troubles on Friday to get on the pace and to get the best from this weekend’s tire allocation Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) qualified on row one in third place.

It was a difficult start to the weekend for Lorenzo, the Spanish rider struggling with the tires and the cooler English weather.

For Q2 the Majorcan used the soft front tire, improving his pace dramatically and allowing him to challenge for the front. A 2:01.175 put Lorenzo third, 0.346s behind Marquez. Dovizioso was just 0.035s ahead of the Yamaha rider, having taken advantage of the softer option Open tires.

Lorenzo has been the most successful MotoGP rider at Silverstone since Grand Prix racing returned in 2010, claiming three wins.

Lorenzo said, “We’re happy to be on the front row as yesterday’s situation was very bad. The team and I worked hard on acceleration and on the bumps to improve. We still have some problems on the medium tire over the bumps. This track with the hard tire is not good for our Yamaha and I think we could be faster with the hard tire from Brno. With a good start we can be at the front.”

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) impressed once more on his Open Forward-Yamaha in fourth, qualifying ahead of factory equipped riders Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).

Teammates Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro (both Monster Yamaha Tech3) will line up on row three in seventh and eighth respectively. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) ended up in ninth place, having escaped unscathed after two crashes earlier in the day.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) also crashed, in his case towards the end of Q2, leaving him 10th on the grid. Colleagues Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista (both GO&FUN Honda Gresini) made it through from Q1 but could only qualify 11th and 12th.

Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) missed out on Q2 in third and fifth in Q1, leaving them 13th and 15th respectively on the grid.

A crash toward the end of Q1 for Leon Camier (Drive M7 Aspar) hindered his progress, but the Briton walked away unhurt, qualifying 18th.

Sunday’s intermediate class race at the Hertz British Grand Prix will start with Johann Zarco on pole, with Mika Kallio and Simone Corsi behind him on row one.

Frenchman Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) achieved his first Moto2™ pole and the first pole for Caterham in Grand Prix, with a 2:07.094 lap of Silverstone.

Title candidate Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) and experienced Italian rider Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) will line up behind Zarco on row one, in second and third respectively.

Kallio’s teammate and championship rival Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) appeared to be furious with himself at the end of QP, qualifying fourth but apparently feeling he had missed an opportunity to get onto the front row with a late charge.  

Rookie Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) qualified just behind Rabat on row two, respectively in fifth and sixth.

Alex Rins will get away from the front of the Moto3™ grid at the Hertz British Grand Prix on Sunday having taken pole, leading from Niccolo Antonelli and Alex Marquez in QP at Silverstone.

Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) produced a superb 2:13.112 lap to set a new pole position record time and grab the front position on the grid for race 12 of the year, ahead of Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN), by 0.112s.

Rins’ teammate Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) held provisional pole with 10 minutes to go, but was eventually 0.338s behind his colleague on the front row.

–From motogp.com

MotoGP Qualifying Results (courtesy Repsol Honda)

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