In varying weather conditions on Saturday's second day of the Australian Grand Prix, Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez displayed great pace by topping the wet FP3 and the dry FP4 before taking a superb pole position to extend his record of poles to 72 in career, 44 in MotoGP, with seven this season and four in a row at Phillip Island.
His amazing qualifying achievement also earned him the fifth BMW M Award in succession, as the best qualifier of 2017.
โI'm happy because I felt good in every session and in every condition,โ he said. โWe found good speed for the single lap, but we were also able to keep a good rhythm in the practices, which is what really counts for the race. I think that the work we did in the FP4 session was important.โ
โI was also very comfortable in qualifying, but I encountered some traffic at some points. I understand that the slipstream is important here, and it's okay if some other guys follow during the practices, but in qualifying I obviously preferred to ride alone.โ
โI just waited a bit before exiting for my second flying lap and then I had the chance to do a really good lap. I'm happy with this pole but the race is tomorrow. It's true that Dovi is a bit behind on the grid here, but also at Motegi he was only ninth! We just have to wait and see how the weather is tomorrow, as it seems it will be unstable like today. Then I'll try and give my 100% and push from beginning to end.โ
Yamaha's maverick Vinales, who was at the top of the leaderboard until the last minute, will start from P2 while Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Johann Zarco will complete the front row of the grid.
โFollowing a wet morning practice, that gave us good information in case we have a wet race tomorrow, we worked hard over the course of FP4 to find further setting tweaks,โ said Yamaha's Massimo Meregalli. โWeโve tried several settings and different tyre options and made a significant step forward before qualifying. Maverick and Vale both gave their 100% as usual. Maverick rode a very strong second run in Q2 and set a 1โ28.719s. That lap earned him second place on the grid, only losing out on securing pole position in the final stages.โ
Vinales' teammate Valentino Rossi, will start from 7th on the grid /row three, after Andrea Iannone, home hero Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro secured the second row.
โVale did exactly what was needed in Q1 and promoted to Q2 without any difficulties. He was quickly on the pace again, but had some issues on the corner entry at the end of the second qualifying session that kept him from securing a position on the first two rows, so he will start from seventh place,โ added Meregalli. โThe team will continue to work this evening to find further setting variations to offer the riders for warm up tomorrow morning in preparation for the race. There are going to be different key elements that will play a big role in tomorrowโs GP, including the weather and the tyre choice. We will have to be ready for all possible circumstances.โ
Title contender Andrea Dovizioso will start all the way down in 11th with the second Ducati of Jorge Lorenzo in 16th after a fall in practice saw him injure his ankle.
Weather forecasts indicate continuing changeable conditions for this afternoon's MotoGP race, which will get underway at 4 p.m. local time.
GP of Australia โ Qualifying classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'28.386
2. Maverick VIรALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'28.719 +0.333
3. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'28.744 +0.358
4. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'28.937 +0.551
5. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'28.964 +0.578 / 0.027
6. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'29.030 +0.644
7. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'29.203 +0.817
8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'29.271 +0.885
9. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'29.321 +0.935
10. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - 1'29.429 +1.043
11. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 1'29.496 +1.110
12. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'29.546 +1.160
13. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'29.824 (Q1)
14. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'29.847 (Q1)
15. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'29.961 (Q1)
16. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'30.085 (Q1)
17. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'30.224 (Q1)
18. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'30.471 (Q1)
19. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'30.543 (Q1)
20. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'30.806 (Q1)
21. Broc PARKES, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'30.889 (Q1)
22. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'30.900 (Q1)
23. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'31.158 (Q1)
