Moto2: Marquez dominates Moto2 qualifying
125cc champion Marc Marquez claimed his first Moto2 pole position - and ended Stefan Bradl's unbeaten run - with a commanding performance at Silverstone
With the threat of rain hanging in the air, most of the top riders went for fast times early on, and Marquez was able to spend most of the session at the top.
He eventually improved his time to a 2m08.101s, which put him three quarters of a second clear of the field for a while.
Scott Redding was second for the majority of qualifying, the Marc VDS rider giving himself something to smile about as he returned to the front row on home ground after a run of tough races. He got the gap to Marquez down to 0.497s in the end.
For a while it looked like not only would Bradl see his run of poles come to an end, but he would not even make it onto the front row - until he salvaged third with his final run.
Jules Cluzel, Simone Corsi and Michele Pirro will start from the second row, ahead of Aleix Espagaro, Randy Krummenacher, Mike di Meglio and Alex de Angelis.
While Redding took second on the grid, it was an extremely tough session for Britain's other big hope Bradley Smith. Persistent technical problems saw his Tech 3 stuttering around the circuit and struggling to get a time in, and it was only after huge efforts by both rider and team that he was able to salvage 28th.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Repsol Suter 2m08.101s 2. Scott Redding Marc VDS Suter 2m08.598s + 0.497s 3. Stefan Bradl Kiefer Kalex 2m08.618s + 0.517s 4. Jules Cluzel Forward Suter 2m08.923s + 0.822s 5. Simone Corsi Ioda FTR 2m08.976s + 0.875s 6. Michele Pirro Gresini Moriwaki 2m09.021s + 0.920s 7. Aleix Espargaro Pons Kalex 2m09.216s + 1.115s 8. Randy Krummenacher Kiefer Kalex 2m09.415s + 1.314s 9. Mike di Meglio Tech 3 2m09.527s + 1.426s 10. Alex de Angelis JIR Motobi 2m09.646s + 1.545s 11. Claudio Corti Italtrans Suter 2m09.656s + 1.555s 12. Yuki Takahashi Gresini Moriwaki 2m09.679s + 1.578s 13. Kenan Sofuoglu Technomag-CIP Suter 2m09.711s + 1.610s 14. Thomas Luthi Interwetten Suter 2m09.725s + 1.624s 15. Raffaele de Rosa SAG FTR 2m09.803s + 1.702s 16. Axel Pons Pons Kalex 2m09.994s + 1.893s 17. Max Neukirchner MZ 2m10.069s + 1.968s 18. Xavier Simeon Tech 3 2m10.077s + 1.976s 19. Jordi Torres Aspar Suter 2m10.122s + 2.021s 20. Esteve Rabat Blusens-STX FTR 2m10.220s + 2.119s 21. Yonny Hernandez Blusens-STX FTR 2m10.262s + 2.161s 22. Mattia Pasini Ioda FTR 2m10.312s + 2.211s 23. Pol Espargaro Speed Up FTR 2m10.514s + 2.413s 24. Kev Coghlan Castello FTR 2m10.551s + 2.450s 25. Carmelo Morales G22 Moriwaki 2m10.565s + 2.464s 26. Mika Kallio Marc VDS Suter 2m10.744s + 2.643s 27. Kenny Noyes Avintia-STX FTR 2m10.765s + 2.664s 28. Bradley Smith Tech 3 2m10.804s + 2.703s 29. Valentin Debise Speed Up FTR 2m10.920s + 2.819s 30. Javier Fores Aspar Suter 2m10.968s + 2.867s 31. Dominique Aegerter Technomag-CIP Suter 2m11.057s + 2.956s 32. Ratthapark Wilairot SAG FTR 2m11.085s + 2.984s 33. Andrea Iannone Speed Master Suter 2m11.335s + 3.234s 34. Alex Baldolini Forward Suter 2m11.399s + 3.298s 35. Robertino Pietri Italtrans Suter 2m11.562s + 3.461s 36. Anthony West MZ 2m13.483s + 5.382s 37. Mashel Al Naimi QMMF Moriwaki 2m13.935s + 5.834s 38. Nasser Hasan Al Malki QMMF Moriwaki 2m15.869s + 7.768s
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