Estrella Galicia’s Alex Marquez has taken his maiden Moto2 pole position and bagged the class circuit best lap to boot as he kept team-mate and series leader Franco Morbidelli behind him with Suter-mounted Domi Aegerter in third place.
All of the session’s fastest laps came in the opening ten minutes with Marquez putting in 1’42.080 which was never bettered. The younger Marquez set a 1’42.080 to make mincemeat out of Sam Lowes’ circuit best of 1’42.408 set last season. Morbidelli and Aegerter, who crashed earlier, were also under that mark with 1’42.126 and 1’42.312 respectively.
“I am really happy to take my first pole position in Moto2 and to do it in front of my home crowd with a record lap makes it feel that little bit extra special. But we must keep our feet firmly on the ground because the race is tomorrow and that is the most important part,” said Marquez.
“I was always confident I could get pole after being so strong in practice and I was happy to go out and deliver when it counted. I’ve been fast in all conditions this weekend and I am now really looking forward to the race. It will be tough to manage the bike and the tyres in the heat but I feel prepared and ready to fight at the front.”
Marquez’s session was not without drama however, as on his final run he ran off-track at the last corner and was clipped by an incoming Remy Gardner who subsequently went down. Gardner’s footpeg punctured Marquez’ rear tyre and that was the end of his session.
Miguel Oliveira heads row two with Mattia Pasini and Francesco Bagnaia alongside him. Title challenger Tom Luthi ended in 12th place and is a second off the pace
