Valencia MotoGP qualifying
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That was certainly entertaining. Can Dovizioso overcome his unlikely odds – and an eight-place starting deficit to Marquez – and snatch the MotoGP title tomorrow? Join us to find out. Our commentary will begin shortly before the race starts at 1pm UK time.
Thanks for joining us and we'll see you tomorrow. For now, here's our qualifying report:
Thanks for joining us and we'll see you tomorrow. For now, here's our qualifying report:
Quote
Marquez: "I was angry. I was in the box speaking with Santi my chief engineer and I say my first lap I don't feel ready at Turn 4. But I say maybe this time will be ready – I try, it's not ready!"
"The most important thing is we're on the pole position with good pace. I'll keep the same mentality and try to be faster and faster."
"The most important thing is we're on the pole position with good pace. I'll keep the same mentality and try to be faster and faster."
Quote
Zarco says he didn't expect pole position – says he's pretty happy with his lap time and he probably couldn't have gone better with his experience.
"I think the pace can be good – let's see if I can stay with the top guys, fighting for the victory. It would be the best way to finish the season."
"I think the pace can be good – let's see if I can stay with the top guys, fighting for the victory. It would be the best way to finish the season."
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That's 27 crashes for the year for Marquez...but will he care? Probably not. Pole position and his title rival down in ninth. Not bad.
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Information
Here's how qualifying ended up, then:
1. Marquez
2. Zarco
3. Iannone
4. Lorenzo
5. Pedrosa
6. Pirro
7. Rossi
8. A Espargaro
9. Dovizioso
10. Rins
11. P Espargaro*
12. Miller
13. Vinales
14. Rabat
15. Petrucci
16. Crutchlow
17. Smith
18. Abraham
19. Kallio
20. Barbera
21. Bautista
22. Redding
23. Baz
24. Lowes
25. Van der Mark
* Will start from the pitlane
1. Marquez
2. Zarco
3. Iannone
4. Lorenzo
5. Pedrosa
6. Pirro
7. Rossi
8. A Espargaro
9. Dovizioso
10. Rins
11. P Espargaro*
12. Miller
13. Vinales
14. Rabat
15. Petrucci
16. Crutchlow
17. Smith
18. Abraham
19. Kallio
20. Barbera
21. Bautista
22. Redding
23. Baz
24. Lowes
25. Van der Mark
* Will start from the pitlane
Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Pirro make up the second row. Dovizioso clings to the outside of row three, behind Rossi and Aleix Espargaro, who has crashed at the end of the session.
Information
Nope, Iannone's backed off. The front row is Marquez, Zarco and Iannone.
Iannone's on a personal-best after the chequered flag. Can he get back ahead of Zarco?
Checkered flag
Chequered flag – Dovizioso will start no better than ninth.
Great lap from Zarco, who's into second now. The Tech3 man is 0.35s slower than Marquez.
Marquez just lost the front at Turn 4 and dropped it. Slid into the gravel. Got away with it...
Pirro up to sixth and Rossi eighth, as Dovizioso gets shuffled back to ninth.
Crash
Marquez is OK after his shunt. Miller's crashed.
Iannone up to second on the Suzuki, half a second shy of the crashed Marquez.
Dovizioso fails to improve in the first sector but finds time in the second. It's a personal best in sector three, and he ends the lap improving to eighth on a 1m30.961s.
Crash
Marquez has crashed!
All 12 riders are on track.
Information
Here's the order so far heading into the final runs:
1 Marquez
2 Lorenzo
3 Zarco
4 Pedrosa
5 A Espargaro
6 Iannone
7 Pirro
8 Rins
9 P Espargaro
10 Rossi
11 Miller
12 Dovizioso
1 Marquez
2 Lorenzo
3 Zarco
4 Pedrosa
5 A Espargaro
6 Iannone
7 Pirro
8 Rins
9 P Espargaro
10 Rossi
11 Miller
12 Dovizioso
Replays show just how dramatic Lorenzo's shunt was, and how lucky he is to have walked away. Just dropped the front and slid rapidly across the gravel at the final corner.
Lorenzo back to the Ducati garage, where his second bike is ready and waiting.
Marquez is more than half a second clear of anyone. Huge advantage. Although before Lorenzo's shunt, the Ducati was on a better lap.
Aleix Espargaro goes fifth on his Aprilia. Not bad!
Dovizioso is slowest of the 12 runners so far. This isn't going to plan for the title hopeful.
Crash
Big crash for Lorenzo. He was on a personal best that featured two fastest sectors of the session. The Ducati rider shunted at Turn 13.
That's a whopping 1.3s quicker than Dovizioso.
Stopwatch
Marquez, wow. A 1m29.897s. Monster lap.
Zarco improves to third, a tenth slower than Marquez and Lorenzo.
Dovizioso only up to eighth with his first proper lap – 0.8s slower than Marquez.
Marquez, Lorenzo, Pirro, Rins, Pedrosa, Zarco, Miller, Aleix Espargaro, Dovizioso, Iannone, Pol Espargaro and Rossi the order after the first flying laps.
Stopwatch
Marquez smashes it! A 1m30.424s.
Stopwatch
Suzuki's Rins is the fastest of the first riders to set a lap time on a 1m30.972s.
A 1m31.1s was the fastest FP4 time from Marquez but the Q1 runners got into the 1m30s. So it'll be interesting to see what's enough for pole here.
Dovizioso giving away time in the first two sectors on this lap so it's not going to be stunning out of the blocks from the title outsider.
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Green flag
The session is under way.
Q2 is scheduled to begin in just under a minute.
Right, that's a long enough break don't you think? Come on. Let's have the proper part of qualifying now please.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Lap:
