MotoGP 2018: Slick tyre gamble helps Miller take pole in Argentina

Using slick tyres on a wet circuit, Jack Miller puts on a brave show to take pole position in Argentina.  Dani Pedrosa and Johann Zarco start from second and third, respectively. 

Jack Miller’s slick tyre gamble has bagged the Australian his maiden pole at the Argentine Grand Prix. The Pramac Ducati rider snatched pole-position from Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in the very last minute as he put a phenomenal lap in damp conditions. Johann Zarco of Tech 3 Yamaha finished the session in third.

All the qualifying sessions were wet during the day, but it was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez who looked the most consistent and a cut above the pack. Marquez finished the final practice session (FP4) on top, while Pedrosa and others were more than a second slower than the reigning world champion. In the qualifying session, it again looked like Marquez will simply walk away with pole position. However, a series of miscalculations saw the Spaniard not only miss the pole, but other front row positions as well.

Marquez was the first rider to go out on slicks as the track began to dry in the second half of the qualifying session. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow soon followed suit. However, before even completing a lap, Marquez realized that the track wasn’t dry enough and returned to the pit so as to switch back to rain tyres. Crutchlow did the same, but there was no denying that both riders had lost a chunk of their time.

Meantime, Pedrosa lapped an impressive 1:47.330 lap to take provisional pole in the closing minutes. Marquez couldn’t manage to put in a decent lap and ended the session sixth fastest. However, while Pedrosa looked all set to take the 50^th pole of his career, Miller crashed the party at the very end.

The reason behind Miller’s stunning pole lap – a 1:47.153 – was mainly down to his bravery and faith in slick rubber. You see, while Marquez and Crutchlow gave up on dry rubber, Miller continued to push his bike hard in the tricky conditions. In fact, before setting the fastest lap, Miller nearly crashed twice or thrice, but somehow managed to stay on the bike. All his efforts finally paid off though.

Behind the front-row starters and ahead of Marquez will be Tito Rabat of Avintia Racing in fourth and Alex Rins of Factory Suzuki in fifth. The third row will be led by Aleix Espargaro (7^th) of Aprilia, followed by last race winner and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (8^th). Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Crutchlow complete the top ten.