Welcome to the beta version of the new Women & Golf website. Our web monkeys are still hard at work and welcome your feedback.  

Advertisement

MotoGP Argentina: Marquez takes pole despite crashing

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Argentine MotoGP race by almost four tenths of a second despite crashing at turn one.

Marquez put in his 1’39.411 with his first flying lap and it was never bettered but the former champion went down shortly afterward as the bump on the entry to the first corner unsettled the front end of his RC213V.

Turn one also claimed Jorge Lorenzo in an uncharacteristic crash during free practice four but the Movistar Yamaha man also bounced back and briefly claimed second before he was deposed by his team-mate.

Advertisement

Valentino Rossi put in his fastest lap of the weekend with a 1’39.786 which squeezed out his Spanish rival by 0.158 just seconds after Lorenzo had taken the runner-up spot.

Dani Pedrosa’s final lap was interrupted as his team-mate went down but the tiny Spaniard had done enough to claim fourth and the head of row two but he was chased hard by the works Ducati pairing of Andrea Dovizoso in fifth and Iannone in sixth but are eight-tenths off the pace.

Ecstar Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales couldn’t replicate his Qatar performance with another front row and had to settle for seventh in front of Hector Barbera, who got a tow from Pedrosa to bag eighth.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow also had to come back from a turn one crash and he put in a 1’40.528 to take the final spot on row three. Pol Espargaro beat brother Alex for tenth place.

Bradley Smith was another turn one victim with four minutes left and ended down in 12th place after coming from qualifying one with Monster Yamaha team-mate Espargaro.

Loris Baz took 13th ahead of Scott Redding who had a nightmare in free practice four when his rear Michelin fell to pieces on the exit of the fast turn six.

Fortunately, the Octo Ducati man stayed on but it caused the session to be stopped while Michelin began their investigation as to the cause.

Jack Miller took 15th place while Eugene Laverty was 17th. His Aspar Ducati team-mate Yonny Hernandez had to pull out of the session after his chain adjuster broke and his bike’s wheels came out of alignment.

The Columbian was warned by Baz and pitted but his team could see nothing wrong. However, on his next lap, it was clear there was a problem and he parked it.

Click here for times

Articles you may like

Advertisement

More MotoGP

Advertisement
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram