Three-time world champion and championship leader Marc Marquez sped to a record-breaking pole position for Sunday’s British MotoGP, edging out Valentino Rossi by less than a tenth of a second.
Marquez rode the first ever lap under two minutes at Silverstone to clock 1min 59.941sec on Saturday with Rossi’s Yamaha 0.084sec behind to qualify second for what will be the Italian’s 300th MotoGP.
It was a fourth consecutive pole position for Marquez.
Cal Crutchlow, cheered on by a home crowd, was just a whisker behind in third.
Andrea Dovizioso, winner in Austria two weeks ago, qualified sixth.
“I’m very happy with this pole. Honestly, before qualifying I didn’t expect to be able to get below two minutes,” Marquez said.
“I didn’t do a perfect lap here that’s very difficult as it’s a very long track, but it was a good one and we were able to achieve our target to be on the front row.
“It will be a long, tough (race), as several other top guys have a good pace as well, but if everything is fine and we feel good, we’ll go and fight for the podium and, why not, for the victory as well.”
The Spaniard is chasing a third win in four races, after triumphing in Germany and the Czech Republic before a second-place finish in Austria, and leads Dovizioso by 16 points in the standings.
Rossi, 38, conceded his quest for pole was lost in the final section but was still delighted to be starting alongside Marquez.
“I’m so happy to start from the front row, that’s very important for the race. With the pace we are not fantastic, we’re a bit in trouble,” he said.
“I hope we have the time to try to fix all of the last details and I hope to be competitive tomorrow and fight for the podium.” – Agence France-Presse
