MotoGP Aragon: Marc Marquez takes pole despite qualifying crash
Marc Marquez claimed pole position for Sunday's MotoGP round at Aragon Motorland, despite a crash late in qualifying
The reigning champion immediately set the pace in the pole shootout, posting a 1m46.635s on his first run in the session to lead the way by a tenth of a second from Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez's best lap smashed his own pole record from 2014 by half a second.
His performance was only dampened by a late fall at Turn 2 while trying to improve on his final time, but he was able to walk away uninjured.
Andrea Iannone, nursing an left shoulder, hauled the Ducati onto the front row of the grid with a late lap to snatch third from Tech 3 rider Pol Espargaro.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa failed to reproduce his form from final practice, and he will start from fifth, one spot ahead of current points leader Valentino Rossi.
Aleix Espargaro will line up seventh on the grid, and will be joined by Cal Crutchlow and Danilo Petrucci, the latter progressing through Q1 on the satellite Ducati, on the third row.
Bradley Smith recorded his worst qualifying result since Assen in 10th, while Yonny Hernandez and Maverick Vinales rounded out the top 12.
Ducati factory rider Andrea Dovizioso was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying, unable to match Pramac team-mates Petrucci and Hernandez on the satellite Ducatis.
Eugene Laverty was the best of the open class riders in 15th.
STARTING GRID
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m46.635s | - |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m46.743s | 0.108s |
| 3 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 1m47.178s | 0.543s |
| 4 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m47.334s | 0.699s |
| 5 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m47.357s | 0.722s |
| 6 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m47.492s | 0.857s |
| 7 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m47.573s | 0.938s |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 1m47.574s | 0.939s |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m47.775s | 1.140s |
| 10 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m47.830s | 1.195s |
| 11 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m48.556s | 1.921s |
| 12 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m48.648s | 2.013s |
| 13 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m48.294s | 1.659s |
| 14 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 1m48.674s | 2.039s |
| 15 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 1m49.035s | 2.400s |
| 16 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m49.102s | 2.467s |
| 17 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m49.109s | 2.474s |
| 18 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m49.253s | 2.618s |
| 19 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m49.426s | 2.791s |
| 20 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 1m49.436s | 2.801s |
| 21 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m49.437s | 2.802s |
| 22 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m49.496s | 2.861s |
| 23 | Karel Abraham | AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m49.761s | 3.126s |
| 24 | Alex de Angelis | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m50.134s | 3.499s |
| 25 | Toni Elias | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m50.755s | 4.120s |
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