Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will start from pole position in the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón, with team-mate Dani Pedrosa in second and Ducati’s Andrea Iannone completing the front row.
Marc took a provisional pole on his first exit of Q2 with a time of 1’47.572, 0.232s faster than his pole record in 2013 (1’47.804). Then Dani, on his second exit, put in a blistering lap ?of ?1’47.549, 0.023 faster than Marc sending him to the top of the timing sheets. Marc responded and clinched his 20th Pole Position in the MotoGP class, setting a new fastest lap time around the 5,078km Aragón circuit with a time of 1’47.187, 0.617s faster than 2013.
Marc Marquez: “Qualifying went very well, continuing the form that we have had so far this weekend! We have focused a lot of our work on our race pace, looking less at setting a one-off lap time and more at finding a strong pace. Things are looking good for the race, although Dani also has a very good pace, so we’ll have to see tomorrow!”
Dani Pedrosa: “Today we had a good qualifying session. In other races we have had difficulties because we haven’t started from the front, but today we managed to set a good lap. I think that the practice sessions also went well for us, and tomorrow in the race we will be as competitive as possible. Marc is setting some very good times, so we will try to fight for the win against him! It will be important to get a good start, although the race is long and the pace will play a big part, so we will have keep our concentration on every corner.”
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who has a new GP14.2 bike this weekend qualified just under half a second behind Marquez. Iannone said: “The new bike is very similar, just more comfortable.”
Row two will comprise rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), the Italian having earlier made it through from Q1.
Valentino Rossi: “A difficult practice yesterday and also today as we are suffering from a lack of grip. It’s difficult to ride the bike at the limit as after some laps it starts to slide a lot. We worked very hard with the team to try and improve some different settings. It looks like this afternoon we found some things so I will start from the second row, which is not so bad, it’s quite good. Now we have to try to find some small improvement for the warm up and for the race so we can try to do the maximum tomorrow afternoon. The big question mark is the front tyre, we can use medium or hard. They are very similar so we have to see what the track temperature will be.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) qualified at the head of the third row in seventh place, 1.059s behind Marquez. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and crasher Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) complete the third row.
Jorge Lorenzo: “It’s unbelievable how in just two weeks everything can change just for the track. It’s true that this year we have even more difficulties to be competitive here. I’m very disappointed because today we got two wrong tyres for the rear. They were not good. One was defective in the morning and the second tyre in qualifying was also not good. I expected to improve four or five tenths but I couldn’t, improving by just one tenth. When you have more difficulties sometimes you get even more problems as happened today. I think our pace is not that bad compared to our grid position so if we can make a good start and be patient we can fight. The first two corners will be difficult, then little by little we can make some positions and fight for the podium.”
Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) was unhappy at the end of the session as he was held up by another rider and qualified tenth.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) crashed with just three minutes to go, leaving him 11th on the grid and Dovizioso (Ducati Team) also fell minutes later. Despite advancing through Q1 on his new Ducati, Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) was unable to set a lap time due to front end chatter problems – thus being classified 12th.
Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) qualified in 18th place in Q1 as he returns to Grand Prix action this weekend, whilst Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) had big crash at the end of Q1 and ended up 17th.
Qualifying Results
Q2:
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 47.187s 328km/h (Top Speed)
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 47.549s +0.362s 329km/h
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 47.685s +0.498s 332km/h
4. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 47.865s +0.678s 327km/h
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 47.897s +0.710s 327km/h
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 48.226s +1.039s 328km/h
7. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 48.246s +1.059s 327km/h
8. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 48.368s +1.181s 330km/h
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 48.542s +1.355s 331km/h
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 48.568s +1.381s 321km/h
11. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 48.810s +1.623s 328km/h
12. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici) No Time
Q1:
13. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 49.051s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 49.209s
15. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 49.274s
16. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 1m 49.703s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 1m 49.790s
18. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 49.835s
19. Alex De Angelis RSM NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 50.263s
20. Danilo Petrucci ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) 1m 50.635s
21. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 51.280s
22. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 1m 51.489s
23. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* 1m 52.181s
*Rookie
Moto3 – Miller to start from second row
World Championship leader Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) should be in the hunt tomorrow from the front of row two, with Alex Rins securing pole ahead of Danny Kent and Juanfran Guevara on the front row.
Miller is joined by Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3).
The third row will feature Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team), John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG) and Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN). Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) completed the top ten, whilst engine problems for Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) left him down in 26th.
There was an early crash for Andrea Locatelli (San Carlo Team Italia), which saw the Italian rider spend much of the session in the Medical Centre for a finger injury. Jasper Iwema (CIP) was another faller, losing his fairing. Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) also took a heavy fall but walked away unhurt.
Moto3 Qualify Results
1. Alex Rins SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 58.318s
2. Danny Kent GBR Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo (Husqvarna) 1m 58.434s
3. Juanfran Guevara SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 (Kalex-KTM) 1m 58.470s
4. Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 58.476s
5. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 58.510s
6. Enea Bastianini ITA Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 (KTM) 1m 58.647s
7. Isaac Viñales SPA Calvo Team (KTM) 1m 58.707s
8. John McPhee GBR SaxoPrint-RTG (Honda) 1m 58.743s
9. Niccolò Antonelli ITA Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 (KTM) 1m 58.770s
10. Efren Vazquez SPA SaxoPrint-RTG (Honda) 1m 58.828s
11. Jorge Navarro SPA Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex-KTM) 1m 58.969s
12. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Calvo Team (KTM) 1m 58.999s
13. Romano Fenati ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 59.032s
14. Andrea Migno ITA Mahindra Racing (Mahindra) 1m 59.187s
15. Brad Binder RSA Ambrogio Racing (Mahindra) 1m 59.208s
16. Alexis Masbou FRA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 1m 59.224s
17. Karel Hanika CZE Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 59.314s
18. Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL Ongetta-AirAsia (Honda) 1m 59.374s
19. Hiroki Ono JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 1m 59.422s
20. Miguel Oliveira POR Mahindra Racing (Mahindra) 1m 59.626s
21. Eric Granado BRA Calvo Team (KTM) 1m 59.636s
22. Francesco Bagnaia ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 59.718s
23. Alessandro Tonucci ITA CIP (Mahindra) 2m 0.027s
24. Matteo Ferrari ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) 2m 0.046s
25. Jules Danilo FRA Ambrogio Racing (Mahindra) 2m 0.087s
26. Niklas Ajo FIN Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo (Husqvarna) 2m 0.260s
27. Scott Deroue NED RW Racing GP (Kalex-KTM) 2m 0.289s
28. Hafiq Azmi MAL SIC-AJO (KTM) 2m 0.329s
29. Gabriel Rodrigo ARG RBA Racing Team (KTM) 2m 0.384s
30. Andrea Locatelli ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) 2m 0.765s
31. Jasper Iwema NED CIP (Mahindra) 2m 0.805s
32. Ana Carrasco SPA RW Racing GP (Kalex-KTM) 2m 0.878s
33. Luca Grünwald GER Kiefer Racing (Kalex-KTM) 2m 1.044s
34. Philipp Oettl GER Interwetten Paddock Moto3 (Kalex-KTM) 2m 1.107s
35. Gabriel Ramos VEN Kiefer Racing (Kalex-KTM) 2m 2.112s
Be the first to comment