MotoGP 2016: Marquez clinches pole for Aragon Grand Prix

Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda dominates the field to take pole for AragonGP. Maverick Vinales of Ecstar Suzuki and Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha finish second and third, respectively.

Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda stormed to pole for the AragonGP. The Spaniard looked strong in all the practice sessions over the weekend and continued the momentum to seal the top position on the grid for the race tomorrow. Maverick Vinales of Suzuki managed to finish in second position while Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha will be starting from the third spot on the grid.

Aragon has traditionally been a Honda track, and this race weekend on the circuit – thus far – is also looking to favour Honda. From what we have seen so far, the Factory Hondas of Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have strong race pace. Even Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda is in the mix as he’s also nearly as quick as the Repsol Honda riders. Despite being quicker from most of the rivals though, both Pedrosa and Crutchlow were not able to make it on the first row owing to crashes in their respective penultimate laps. Pedrosa finished in seventh while Crutchlow starts fifth.

Crutchlow will be joined by Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati in fourth and Valentino Rossi of Yamaha in sixth on the second row. Given how Hondas have been dominating the practice sessions, Rossi will be quite worried for the championship. Joining Pedrosa in the third row behind Rossi will be Aleix Espargaro of Suzuki in eight and Danillo Petrucci of Octo Pramac Ducati in ninth. Petrucci’s teammate Scott Redding will be starting in tenth position.

There have been few replacements in tomorrow’s race as well. Nicky Hayden is back to the MotoGP arena, replacing injured Jack Miller for this race. Michele Pirro will race in place of Andrea Iannone for Factory Ducati while, Alex Lowes will be racing Bradley Smith’s Tech 3 Yamaha M1.