Reigning World Champion pushes for pole position right until the end of qualifying, and will begin the season opener from the front row of the grid. Teammate Dani Pedrosa will start from seventh at Losail.
A close qualifying session saw Marc Márquez riding faster than the circuit record -which had stood since 2008- and he would end up just 2 tenths slower than poleman Johann Zarco.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Repsol Honda rider has qualified on the front row of the grid for the first race of the season, and his eighth front row start in ten visits to Qatar.
Teammate Dani Pedrosa placed seventh in qualifying, claiming a spot on the third row for the third year in succession.
MARC MÁRQUEZ | 2nd 1’53.882
“I’m really happy with the result as we’ve worked a lot during the pre-season and we worked a lot here, a track that, together with Sepang, is probably the least favourable circuit to me. Today was the first real “time attack” and we were there, and now we are on the front row. Adding to the satisfaction is the fact that normally we struggle quite a lot here. But our target was the front row, we got it and it feels like a pole! Johann rode amazingly; he was one step ahead of us. Anyway, the race will be tough and long, but we’ll try to be consistent and to manage the laps in the best way possible.”
DANI PEDROSA | 7th 1’54.368
“We’re of course not 100 percent satisfied with the result but we’re not unhappy either. Conditions were not what we were expecting and this is not the perfect track for me. Even more, qualifying is generally tough here. The positive thing is that we were able to improve the bike’s setup a little during FP4. Now we have to see what the conditions will be like tomorrow because they change every day at this track, and even session by session, because of the wind and the sand. I think the tyre choice will be the key to the race, as well as the start of course. Seventh place in qualifying means that we have to start well, battle well in the lead group, and find our rhythm.”
