Marquez claims 65th career pole

Six days after clinching the 2016 MotoGP world title, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken his 37th premier-class pole position at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

In changing conditions at Phillip Island and one of very few riders on a full slick tyre combination, Marquez set a 1m30.189s flyer to take the top spot, 0.8 seconds faster than Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

"I took the risk with slicks because the track was completely dry," said Marquez. "I am very happy with the pole position and am looking forward to tomorrow's race."

Australian rider Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) was knocked off the front row of the grid in the dying stages of the session by brothers Pol (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Aleix Espargaro (Ecstar Suzuki), who produced 1:31.107 and a 1:31.673 times respectively in front of more than a few disappointed Australian fans.

Miller’s fifth place, however, is the Aussie’s best-ever qualifying position and the first time he’ll start a MotoGP race inside the top 10.

Octo Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci (1:32.420) completes the second row of the grid, while Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) – who topped the timesheets in the rain-interrupted FP4 session – kicks off the third row alongside Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo couldn’t convert his progression from qualifying one into a solid grid position, the Spaniard taking the last of the 12 position on the front four rows behind Hector Barbera (Ducati Team) and Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Ducati).

Q1’s best finisher Maverick Viñales (Ecstar Suzuki) heads row five in front of Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Bradley Smith and Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. Eugene Laverty (Pull & Bear Aspar Team) qualified 16th in front of teammate Yonny Hernandez.

Aprilia’s Alvaro Bautista was less than 0.1 seconds quicker than Australian wildcard Mike Jones (Avintia Ducati) in 19th place. The Australian out-qualified his teammate Loris Baz, who suffered a crash during the session. Marc VDS’s Tito Rabat rounds out the 21-bike grid.

The MotoGP riders will next be out on track at 11.40am tomorrow morning for the 20-minute warm-up session before the 27-lap race gets underway at 4:00pm.

MOTO2
On-form Tom Luthi quickest in Moto2 qualifying crash fest

Swiss rider Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) took his 11th career pole position in what was a dramatic and crash-strewn Moto2 qualifying session at the 2016 Michelin Australian Grand Prix.

Only six hundredths of a second separated the top three place getters at the end of the 45-minute session with Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) completing the front row.

Luthi’s 1m33.992 flyer came after the Swiss rider suffered a crash at Turn Four, a corner which claimed a lot of riders during the session, including Sam Lowes who suffered not one but two heavy crashes before setting his front-row time at the very end of the session.

Sandra Cortese’s 1:34.094 lap was good enough to for the start of the second row ahead of Jesko Raffin (Sports-millions-EMWE-SAG), who briefly held provisional pole and crashed heavily in the final minutes trying to improve his time. It’s the Swiss rider’s best-ever qualifying result, never previously starting a Moto2 race higher than 18th place.  

Championship leader Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row of the grid down in 10th position after suffering two crashes during the eventful session, while title contender Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) suffered mechanical issues at the end and has to settle for sixth-row start down in 16th place.

Takaaki Nakagami (Honda Team Asia), who is currently sitting in fifth in the championship standings, was another faller and while his best lap has put him on the fourth row of tomorrow’s race, it’s not clear whether injury might rule the Japanese rider out of the race.

Another late faller, Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), was stretchered away at the conclusion of the session after his best lap of 1:34.695 out him on 14th place of the grid.

The Moto2 field will be back out on track in the 20-minute warm-up session at 11.10am before the 25-lap race gets underway at 2.20pm tomorrow afternoon.

MOTO3
South African Brad Binder reinforced why he's the new Moto3 world champion by securing a superb last-gasp pole position in the 2016 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider unleashed a rapid-fire 1:37.696 on his final flying lap, and will start from top spot for the fifth time in 2016 in tomorrow's 23-lap Moto3 race at Phillip Island.

Binder, who's moving up to the intermediate Moto2 category in 2017, will be joined on the front row of the grid by Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing KTM, 1:37.790) and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46, 1:38.487).

Binder wrapped up the 2016 Moto3 title at Aragon in Spain on September 25.

Light rain greeted riders at the start of the 40-minute qualifying session, but the precipitation – as is Phillip Island's stock-in-trade – soon gave way to sunshine. As the track began to dry the times inevitably tumbled, with Philipp Oettl (Schedl GP Racing KTM) the first rider to go under the 1:40 mark.

A number of other riders then took a turn at the top, including Bulega before he ran off the track at the high-speed turn 12 after being forced wide by Francesco Bagnaia (Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra).

Bulega's off-track excursion with 10 minutes to go ended with a low-speed tumble, and just when it appeared his qualifying session was over Spaniard Juanfran Guevara (RBA Racing Team KTM) high-sided at turn 11 which brought out the red flag.

Guevara was taken to the medical centre for observation, but the break in the session allowed Bulega to return for the last frenetic five minutes as riders tripped over each other for clear track.

However, Bulega was unable to keep Binder and Quartararo behind him as the pace hotted up at the death knell.

Row two for the Moto3 race will be filled by Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA Racing Team KTM, 1:38.570), John McPhee (Peugeot MC Saxoprint, 1:38.661) and Belgian Livio Loi (Sky Racing Team VR46 KTM, 1:38.776).

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Honda) and Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda), who are second and third in the standings, qualified in 16th and 13th respectively.

Only 1.979 seconds separated the top 21 qualifiers, while Australian wildcard Matt Barton (Suus Honda) failed to set a time within the 110 per cent qualifying cut-off but has been given special dispensation to race.

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