Marquez beats Lorenzo for pole at Brno

Marquez storms to pole

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has taken pole position in Brno, as the points leader in the title fight left it late to overcome an ominous-looking Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in the final minutes of Q2. Marquez, who topped Friday but had since been overshadowed by compatriot Lorenzo in FP3 and FP4, pulled out an incredible laptime in the session – including overtaking the provisional polesitter’s Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi into the final corner in a spectacular move. Poleman last time out Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) completes the front row in P3.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]It was a spectacular dash to pole position for Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, as the Spaniard was up by two tenths on his final attempt – but slowly gaining on those in front of him. Finding some time in the tow behind Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), the 2013 and 2014 MotoGP world champion then found the two in his path at the final corner, and put a move on 9-time champion Rossi one the inside of Turn 14 to make the drag to the line – and the pole lap record. It is his 63rd pole position, equalling Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).

Marquez had an orange first sector after Lorenzo’s second attempt saw him move further clear at the top, before the timing screens went red in sector 2 and 3 – with the final part of the track the decider. With two tenths to play with, Marquez came up behind the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Pol Espargaro and Movistar Yamaha of Valentino Rossi at the final corner – and slotted between the two through the final apex.

Jorge Lorenzo has shown sublime form all Saturday in Brno, including proving the first man to break the lap record in FP3, and also topped FP4 before just losing the pole position to compatriot and championship rival Marc Marquez. Lorenzo’s race pace looks ominous however, with memories of Brno 2015 also sure to be high in rivals’ minds.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Andrea Iannone had an up and down Saturday before just pipping Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) to complete the front row, with a technical issue earlier in the day and a crash. Iannone was the last man to cross the line and had to wheel the bike back up pitlane to parc ferme after not having realized how far up the grid he had qualified.

Behind Espargaro in P5 was Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing), who recovered from a difficult FP3 for a great qualifying result. The Spaniard beat 9-time world champion Valentino Rossi to the top 5, as the Italian completes row 2 in P6.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a number of issues in the session and got out of sync as he changed the front tyre and tried to make the best of the limited time, but managed a P7 result ahead of the second Team Suzuki Ecstar machine of Maverick Vying. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa completes the third row in P9 after moving up from Q1, ahead of LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow to round out the top ten.

Marquez’ pole takes the Spaniard equal on pole positions with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP pairing Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, with the top 3 men in the title fight now – incredibly – tied on a record 63 pole positions each across all classes…sharing the honours, for once, at the top of the table.

The Sunday showdown sees the lights go out for the race at 14:00 local time (GMT+2) at the Automotodrom Brno.

Marc Marquez (P1): "63 pole positions are a lot! I’m happy with the pole but especially happy with the rhythm in FP4 because we were struggling a lot with the used tyre, especially in the morning. In FP4 we changed the bike and improved a lot so we’ll see how it will be tomorrow with the conditions. If it’s dry then I think we can fight for the podium…and maybe the victory."