Marquez takes fifth pole of the season in Moto2 qualifying at Assen
Moto2 championship leader Marc Marquez claimed his fifth pole position of the 2012 season with a blistering 1m37.133s lap at Assen - and then held on to the top spot despite crashing
Marquez's pole lap was a spectacular effort, which saw him arrive at the final chicance sliding slightly sideways as he dived down the outside of the slower-moving Simone Corsi and still come through to beat his rivals by nearly half a second.
The Spaniard then had a high-side at Turn 5 on his next run, but was unhurt - despite a heavy landing - and able to right his bike and return to the pits.
Title contender Pol Espargaro (Pons) was on top until the Monlau rider deposed him five minutes from the end, leaving Espargaro to hang on for second.
Andrea Iannone completed the front row for Speed Master.
It was a good day for some of Moto2's Swiss contingent, as Team Switzerland's Randy Krummenacher achieved his best Moto2 grid spot yet in fourth, just ahead of compatriot Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP), who equalled his Moto2 career best. But Switzerland's title protagonist Thomas Luthi was only 10th on the Paddock Suter.
Corsi (Ioda) qualified sixth, ahead of British duo Scott Redding (Marc
VDS) and Bradley Smith (Tech 3), with Alex de Angelis's Forward FTR next up.
The session also saw crashes for Italtrans' Claudio Corti, QMMF duo Anthony West and Elena Rosell, and JIR's Johann Zarco. All escaped injury.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Monlau Suter 1n37.133s 2. Pol Espargaro Pons Kalex 1n37.588s + 0.455s 3. Andrea Iannone Speed Master Speed Up 1n37.956s + 0.823s 4. Randy Krummenacher Switzerland Kalex 1n38.279s + 1.146s 5. Dominique Aegerter Technomag-CIP Suter 1n38.349s + 1.216s 6. Simone Corsi Ioda FTR 1n38.400s + 1.267s 7. Scott Redding Marc VDS Kalex 1n38.401s + 1.268s 8. Bradley Smith Tech 3 1n38.414s + 1.281s 9. Alex de Angelis Forward FTR 1n38.483s + 1.350s 10. Thomas Luthi Paddock Suter 1n38.488s + 1.355s 11. Esteve Rabat Pons Kalex 1n38.511s + 1.378s 12. Mika Kallio Marc VDS Kalex 1n38.525s + 1.392s 13. Ratthapark Wilairot Gresini Suter 1n38.573s + 1.440s 14. Takaaki Nakagami Italtrans Kalex 1n38.636s + 1.503s 15. Ricard Cardus Arguinano AJR 1n38.642s + 1.509s 16. Roberto Rolfo Technomag-CIP Suter 1n38.665s + 1.532s 17. Claudio Corti Italtrans Kalex 1n38.899s + 1.766s 18. Max Neukirchner Kiefer Kalex 1n38.950s + 1.817s 19. Johann Zarco JIR Motobi 1n38.996s + 1.863s 20. Axel Pons Pons Kalex 1n39.191s + 2.058s 21. Toni Elias Aspar Suter 1n39.200s + 2.067s 22. Mike di Meglio Speed Master Speed Up 1n39.207s + 2.074s 23. Julian Simon Avintia Suter 1n39.257s + 2.124s 24. Xavier Simeon Tech 3 1n39.302s + 2.169s 25. Nicolas Terol Aspar Suter 1n39.584s + 2.451s 26. Gino Rea Gresini Suter 1n39.628s + 2.495s 27. Alexander Lundh MZ 1n39.941s + 2.808s 28. Anthony West QMMF Moriwaki 1n40.333s + 3.200s 29. Yuki Takahashi Forward FTR 1n40.675s + 3.542s 30. Damian Cudlin SAG Bimota 1n40.746s + 3.613s 31. Eric Granado JIR Motobi 1n40.970s + 3.837s 32. Marco Colandrea SAG FTR 1n41.276s + 4.143s 33. Elena Rosell QMMF Moriwaki 1n42.273s + 5.140s
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