Silverstone MotoGP: Marc Marquez storms to British Grand Prix pole
Marc Marquez claimed pole position for MotoGP's British Grand Prix with a blistering performance in Silverstone qualifying
Having been a touch behind Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo for much of the weekend, Marquez and Honda found a step forward ahead of the fourth practice session immediately before qualifying, topping that half-hour by eight tenths of a second.
Marquez then began Q2 with a record 2m00.564s lap, a quarter of a second ahead of Lorenzo at that point.
There was still more pace to come, with Marquez improving to a final pole time of 2m00.234s on his last run.
Championship leader Lorenzo had to settle for getting between the Hondas as he took second, 0.288s off Marquez and 0.194s ahead of Dani Pedrosa.
Valentino Rossi couldn't quite find front row pace but qualified fourth to lead an all-Yamaha second row ahead of Tech 3 pair Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith, the latter heading a trio of Brits as Scott Redding and Cal Crutchlow claimed seventh and eighth.
It was a disappointing qualifying session for Ducati - Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso only able to qualify ninth and 12th.
There was frustration at Suzuki too. Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales both had to go through Q1, where their first flying laps were nearly seven tenths of a second clear of the rest.
They therefore chose not to run again, but were upstaged by Pramac Ducati rider Yonny Hernandez, who threw in a last-gasp lap to beat both of them, meaning Vinales failed to make it to Q2.
QUALIFYING RESULT:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 2m00.234s | - |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2m00.522s | 0.288s |
| 3 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 2m00.716s | 0.482s |
| 4 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2m00.947s | 0.713s |
| 5 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 2m01.031s | 0.797s |
| 6 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 2m01.140s | 0.906s |
| 7 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 2m01.329s | 1.095s |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 2m01.376s | 1.142s |
| 9 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 2m01.874s | 1.640s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 2m01.880s | 1.646s |
| 11 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2m01.894s | 1.660s |
| 12 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 2m01.979s | 1.745s |
| 13 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 2m02.016s | - |
| 14 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 2m02.657s | - |
| 15 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 2m02.677s | - |
| 16 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 2m02.697s | - |
| 17 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2m02.784s | - |
| 18 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2m02.800s | - |
| 19 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 2m02.894s | - |
| 20 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 2m02.908s | - |
| 21 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 2m02.946s | - |
| 22 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2m03.641s | - |
| 23 | Claudio Corti | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 2m03.789s | - |
| 24 | Karel Abraham | AB Motoracing | Honda | 2m04.133s | - |
| 25 | Alex de Angelis | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 2m04.304s | - |
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