This morning, the Australian Grand Prix was the scenario for a new record by young Marc Márquez, who has become the rider to claim the most pole positions in a single season in the history of the 125cc class, after registering the best time in the qualifying session. Showing a much faster pace than his rivals, the Repsol rider will start tomorrow’s race from the top spot on the grid, joined by Cortese, Espargaró and Terol.
After the rain that welcomed the World Championship riders to the Phillip Island track yesterday, today, the sun provided better conditions for holding the second practice and qualifying sessions of the Australian Grand Prix. However, the cold and the wind stayed at the fast Australian circuit and the track was still wet when the riders went out in the morning session, in which Marc Márquez was second, with a time that was ten seconds faster than yesterday, but still ten seconds behind those registered in the qualifying.
As time went by, the sun warmed up the track and in the 125cc qualifying session, the riders were able to ride with the asphalt at 24ºC, despite an air temperature of 14ºC. In these conditions, Marc Márquez progressed gradually and although he started off gently, in his second outing, he quickly got into the fastest group. He was the first to ride at under one minute and forty seconds and showing an excellent pace, he continued advancing to reduce his times again to one minute and 39 seconds to then go on lowering his times, extending the gap with his rivals.
In the end, he was more than six-tenths faster than the rider in second – Sandro Cortese –, more than seven-tenths faster than the third – Pol Espargaró – and more than eight-tenths faster than fourth – Nico Terol –. A superiority that gave him his eleventh pole position out of the fifteen held and made him the 125cc rider to claim the most pole positions in a season.
Marc Márquez, 1’38.236 sec, 32 laps, 142 KM >> Audio
“The qualifying went quite well. I now have eleven pole positions, but more importantly, we have a good level and we have shown that with the track wet or dry or windy, we are up front, in conditions to fight for victory. I’m sure that things will be different tomorrow because it was the first dry session and I’m sure that the other riders will improve tomorrow.
We’ll see what the temperature and weather are like when we get up, although we have the peace of mind that we have a good level in both the dry and wet. We’ll see if we can finish improving the bike in case the race is dry, to fine-tune the setup but we are confident in the bike, I feel comfortable and we’ve done a good job”.
