MotoGP Great Britain: Marquez storms to pole
Having set the benchmark in the first run, Marquez improved further to a record breaking lap time of 2:00.234 around the 5.891km circuit to notch his sixth pole position of the season. Marquez, who has become a factor in the championship
By Team autoX
Honda’s Marc Marquez resumed his MotoGP title challenge by taking pole position for the British Grand Prix on Saturday at the Silverstone Circuit.
Having set the benchmark in the first run, Marquez improved further to a record breaking lap time of 2:00.234 around the 5.891km circuit to notch his sixth pole position of the season. Marquez, who has become a factor in the championship race since reverting to the 2014 Honda chassis, set an average speed of over 178km/h while setting pole position.
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, the current leader in the championship standings, finished three tenths adrift in second place while Honda's Dani Pedrosa qualified third to complete an all Spanish front row. The latter, however, would be disappointed not to improve on his final run.
Meanwhile, former seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi qualified in fourth place in the second Yamaha and will be joined on the second row of the grid by Tech 3 riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith.
Ducati’s dip in qualifying performance - due to their early season concessions expiring on account of having posted strong results - continued at Silverstone with Andrea Iannone finishing in 9th place and Andrea Dovizioso the slowest of the Q2 riders in 12th position.
Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro and Pramac rider Yonny Hernandez made their way from Q1, qualifying in 10th and 11th places respectively.
