Jerez MotoGP: Marc Marquez grabs pole with last-gasp record lap
Marc Marquez stormed to his fourth consecutive pole position with the fastest lap ever recorded by a MotoGP bike at the Jerez circuit
The Honda rider, the winner of the first three races of the season, left it until the dying seconds of the session to steal pole from Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo, who had led since the start of Q2.
Marquez's time of 1m38.120s left him over four tenths of a second clear of Lorenzo.
No rider has won the top-class Spanish Grand Prix from pole position since Loris Capirossi during the 2006 season.
Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa will start from third ahead of Valentino Rossi and Aleix Espargaro, again the Open class pacesetter despite a crash during the 15-minute session.
Andrea Dovizioso qualified in sixth for Ducati, albeit over a second off Marquez's pace. Stefan Bradly (LCR Honda), Pol Espargaro and his Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Bradley Smith completed the top nine.
Alvaro Bautista, reaching Q2 from Q1, qualified in 10th ahead of Colin Edwards on the Forward Yamaha.
Nicky Hayden, the other to qualify for Q2 from Q1, finished in 12th.
Cal Crutchlow was unable to reach Q2 and will start from 14th place behind Hiroshi Aoyama.
Briton Scott Redding also missed the cut and will start from 18th after crashing at Turn 13 during Q1.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m38.120s 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m38.541s +0.421s 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m38.630s +0.510s 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m38.857s +0.737s 5. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 1m39.007s +0.887s 6. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m39.222s +1.102s 7. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m39.243s +1.123s 8. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.293s +1.173s 9. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.390s +1.270s 10. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m39.751s +1.631s 11. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha 1m39.814s +1.694s 12. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m39.826s +1.706s 13. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m39.768s Q1 14. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 1m39.849s Q1 15. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m40.118s Q1 16. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 1m40.126s Q1 17. Michele Pirro Ducati 1m40.239s Q1 18. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 1m40.453s Q1 19. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m40.566s Q1 20. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Aprilia 1m41.009s Q1 21. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 1m41.124s Q1 22. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m41.517s Q1 23. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 1m41.702s Q1 24. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m42.052s Q1
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