Marquez eases to pole in Argentina

Marquez speeds to pole

Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez has clinched his 24th MotoGP pole position – and second successive – for tomorrow’s twenty-five lap race in Argentina, with teammate Hiroshi Aoyama qualifying 15th.

With track temperatures almost doubling since this morning’s FP3 session, replacement rider Hiroshi was unable to find a better feeling with the Honda RC213V and did not manage to reach Q2. His time of 1’39.715 placed him 15th for tomorrow’s race.

Marc, who has been fastest all day, opted for a three-stop strategy in Q2, in order to take maximum advantage of each new tire. He was able to improve on each exit and his pole time of 1m37.802s was over half a second faster than second place Aleix Espargaro, and only 0.119 off his 2014 pole record.

Marc Marquez
I am happy today, because we were able to fight for pole and eventually got it. It was a lot of fun, because we used a three-tire strategy and it worked well. It was important to start from the front tomorrow, because the track is quite dirty and that makes it harder to overtake. We'll see what happens, we expect a pretty tough race with even higher temperatures than today. My strongest rivals – Jorge and Valentino – are starting from the second row, so I hope to have a good start and a strong race.

Results
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 37.802s [Lap 8/9] 326km/h (Top Speed)
2. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 38.316s +0.514s [5/9] 312km/h
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 38.467s +0.665s [6/8] 328km/h
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR CWM LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 38.485s +0.683s [5/7] 324km/h
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 38.485s +0.683s [2/8] 320km/h
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 38.520s +0.718s [6/7] 318km/h
7. Danilo Petrucci ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.1) 1m 38.786s +0.984s [6/7] 323km/h
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 38.890s +1.088s [7/8] 317km/h
9. Maverick ViÃ±ales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 39.187s +1.385s [6/8] 314km/h
10. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 39.197s +1.395s [6/8] 323km/h
11. Scott Redding GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 39.380s +1.578s [6/7] 321km/h
12. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 40.526s +2.724s [2/9] 322km/h
13. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 39.405s 321km/h
14. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS)* 1m 39.434s 314km/h
15. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 39.715s 326km/h
16. Stefan Bradl GER Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 39.734s 319km/h
17. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RC213V-RS) 1m 39.758s 315km/h
18. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 39.808s 319km/h
19. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 39.828s 311km/h
20. Nicky Hayden USA Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 1m 39.876s 315km/h
21. Jack Miller AUS CWM LCR Honda (RC213V-RS)* 1m 39.888s 320km/h
22. Loris Baz FRA Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha)* 1m 39.972s 312km/h
23. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 40.133s 320km/h
24. Marco Melandri ITA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 40.403s 316km/h
25. Alex De Angelis RSM Octo IodaRacing (ART) 1m 40.485s 310km/h