Repsol Honda rider breaks circuit record for pole despite a crash on his last attempt. Dani Pedrosa will start from the second row in fifth place.
Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa took a step forward on the second day of practice for the Aragon Grand Prix. The reigning MotoGP World Champion took pole position despite a crash on his final attempt to lower his pole time and new circuit record. It was Marquez’ seventh qualifying top spot of the season, and puts him in a strong position for tomorrow’s race. Teammate Dani Pedrosa was second and first in the two practice sessions held today, but was unable to convert his good pace into a fast lap in Q2 for a front row start. He will instead take off from the second row, from fifth.
First in the third free practice session and third in the second, Marquez once again demonstrated his talent in the qualifying session at MotorLand, and on his first attempt he stopped the clock at 1:46.635. That time was more than a half second faster than his own record of one year ago. His second best lap, 0.040s slower, was also better than the rest of the MotoGP field, but on his third attempt he crashed at Turn 2 when the session was about to end.
Pedrosa showed great pace in both practice sessions today, finishing second and first, before facing Q2. He slotted into third on the timesheets from the start of the session, and on his penultimate attempt he set a 1:47.357 time. In the final minutes, Pedrosa was bested by two other riders and dropped down to fifth, meaning a second row start for tomorrow’s race at 2pm.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st – 1:46.635, 36 laps, 183 km
“I did not expect that time on my first lap, and it was a nice surprise! With the second tyre I made a small mistake and could not improve it, and with the third I went too hard on the wrong corner and I had a small crash. This morning we made a big step forward with the setup and now we are more competitive. We will try to fight for victory from the first lap of the race tomorrow. I think we’ve done a great job and we are happy with this pole position.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
5th – 1:47.357, 42 laps, 213 km
“Today we were able to improve the setup of the bike and our plan of which tyres to use in tomorrow’s race has become a little clearer. However in the qualifying session we had some problems; the front was stepping out a bit and I was close to crashing several times, which in the end prevented us from going as fast as we wanted. We will try to have a good start tomorrow to be in the battle from the beginning.”
