Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken yet another MotoGP pole position, bagging top spot at Silverstone this afternoon by three-tenths of a second from Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s race on the front row for the fourth time this year.
Marquez couldn’t quite match his pole record set last year but blitzed to a 2’00.829 with his final flying lap, changing his tactics this weekend to roll out of pitlane dead last to prevent anyone getting a tow for a quicker time.
Dovizioso was king of the caravans in the session, following Jorge Lorenzo early doors to go fastest on a 2’01.595 compared to the Spaniard’s 2’01.798 but he did his fastest lap on his own, setting a 2’01.140 to secure second using the soft tyre with Lorenzo completing the front row.
Aleix Espargaro heads row two with a 2’01.148 and had Dani Pedrosa next to him. Valentino Rossi bounced into sixth place with his final lap which demoted Britain’s Bradley Smith to the third row ahead of team-mate Pol Espargaro. Stefan Bradl recovered from a fast free practice four crash to net ninth.
Andrea Iannone crashed on a lap which would have put him on pole and he slid down the order to 10th, one place ahead of Scott Redding’s production Honda. Redding and Alvaro Bautista, who qualified one place further back, both came through qualifying one with the Briton lapping faster than the RC213V-mounted Spaniard who has a 45km/h top speed advantage.
Cal Crutchlow had another disastrous qualifying session, failing to make it out of the first period and he will start from 15th, three place ahead of Leon Camier. The former BSB champion dropped his lap time to a 2’03.696 and then crashed unhurt at Farm, losing the front of his Drive M7 Honda. Michael Laverty ended in 20th place.
