Repsol rider will share the front row with his only rival in the fight for the title. Teammate Alex Rins, fifth, will start tomorrow from the second row. Maria Herrera crashes in qualifying and will take off from thirty-first.
Alex Marquez will begin the biggest race of his career to date from the front row of the grid, thanks to an important hot lap in qualifying on Saturday. The Repsol rider set the third fastest time in the afternoon shootout, ensuring that he achieved his objective of starting high up the order and will accompany title rival Jack Miller at the head of the Valencian GP. Teammate Alex Rins was fifth in the session and will start from the second row and Maria Herrera, who had a collision with another rider at Turn 8 and suffered a crash, will begin tomorrow’s race from the row 11.
In the third free practice session of the weekend this morning, Marquez was fifth, Rins eighth and Herrera 27th. Everything was ready for the qualifying session. Marquez and Rins rode together several times, using slipstreams to help put them first and second, respectively, on the timesheet. With 18 minutes remaining and Marquez still leading the way, he suffered a light crash –from which he escaped unhurt and was able to continue with the session. Finally, pole position went to Antonelli, followed by Miller and Marquez. Rins was fifth and Herrera 31st.
Tomorrow, sees a Moto3 title showdown between Marquez and Miller at 11am local time.
Alex Rins >> Audio
5th, 1’39.716, 38 laps, 152 km.
“Today I felt pretty good and we have taken a step forward compared to yesterday, but we are never satisfied and always want to improve more. For tomorrow we have to work hard on the race. We have also used a bit of teamwork with Alex [Marquez], because in this category slipstreams are very important and we went out together, putting me ahead first and then him. It’s what others do as well. Things are very tight and, although there are no team orders, if need be I will help Alex because we do not want to lose a championship over anything stupid.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
3rd, 1’39.556, 36 laps, 144 km.
“Today went pretty well. In the morning it was colder, but we had a very good pace despite not setting any perfect lap. For the qualifying session we knew that if we went out with the same mentality we would manage to finish high up. The conditions changed a lot, because there was a lot more wind, but I think in the end we did very well. We’d talked within the team and we were both willing to help each other out. We did a very good job for both of us to qualify on the front two rows, so I thank Alex [Rins] for his help. I will start from third and have a good pace, so we are optimistic about tomorrow.”
Maria Herrera >> Audio
31st, 1’41.474, 33 laps, 132 km.
“We knew that this morning I could improve my times and I did so. I felt much more comfortable on the bike and was aware that if I focused in qualifying I could place in the top 15 or 20. In Qualifying I was improving my times with every stint, although the wind was a bother, and knew that on the final run I was going to give my all. However, I had the misfortune to get knocked into by another rider and went off-track. I am ok; I just received a knock to the head. I can’t wait for tomorrow to give everything I have.”
