Thailand MotoGP: Marquez shades Rossi by 0.011s for pole

Honda rider Marquez was forced into the first part of qualifying after a crash during Saturday morning’s third practice session left him 11th in the combined classification.

But after making it through Q1 with ease, the Spaniard came out on top in the subsequent 15-minute pole position shootout at Buriram.

After leading the opening runs on a 1m30.356s, Yamaha’s Rossi briefly took over at the top of the timesheets with a 1m30.099s with two minutes left on the clock.

Marquez responded moments later with a 1m30.088s – good enough to take pole by 0.011s, but half a tenth slower than he had managed in Q1.

It marks the first time a rider has taken pole in MotoGP having come through Q1.

Teammate Dani Pedrosa’s 1m29.781s effort in February testing remains the fastest-ever lap on a MotoGP bike of the Buriram track, however.

Behind Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso was third on the sole works Ducati, following the withdrawal of Jorge Lorenzo after his huge crash on Friday.

Dovizioso had looked poised to usurp Marquez on his final lap, but dropped time in the final two sectors and ended up falling short by 0.139s.

Maverick Vinales made it two Yamahas in the top four, missing out on a front row spot by a tenth, followed by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Andrea Iannone (Suzuki).

Pedrosa was seventh ahead of Johann Zarco (Tech 3) and the two Pramac Ducatis of Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins, who joined Marquez in advancing from Q1, and Nieto Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista completed the order in Q2.

Q1: Rins pips Morbidelli for Q2 spot

After his FP3 crash, Marquez unsurprisingly dominated the opening segment of qualifying, as his time of 1m30.031s put him nine tenths clear of the pack.

The battle for the other top two place was between Rins and Marc VDS Honda man Franco Morbidelli, who was poised to go through until being beaten by just 0.002s after the chequered flag fell.

Morbidelli therefore starts 13th ahead of fellow Honda satellite rider Takaaki Nakagami and the lead KTM of Bradley Smith.

Aprilia’s challenge was led by Aleix Espargaro in 16th, while younger brother Pol qualified 19th on his return from injury aboard the second KTM.

British Superbike-bound Scott Redding struggled to 13th in Q1 and last place on the grid for Sunday with a time six tenths slower than Aprilia stablemate Espargaro.

Q2 results:

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'30.088
2	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'30.099	0.011
3	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'30.227	0.139
4	25	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'30.328	0.240
5	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'30.356	0.268
6	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	1'30.419	0.331
7	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1'30.458	0.370
8	5	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	1'30.471	0.383
9	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'30.599	0.511
10	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'30.660	0.572
11	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'30.738	0.650
12	19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	1'30.976	0.888

Q1 results:

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
Q2	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'30.031
Q2	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'30.921	0.890
13	21	Franco Morbidelli	Honda	1'30.923	0.892
14	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'30.995	0.964
15	38	Bradley Smith	KTM	1'31.207	1.176
16	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'31.243	1.212
17	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'31.374	1.343
18	55	Hafizh Syahrin	Yamaha	1'31.389	1.358
19	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'31.399	1.368
20	10	Xavier Simeon	Ducati	1'31.686	1.655
21	81	Jordi Torres	Ducati	1'31.819	1.788
22	12	Thomas Luthi	Honda	1'31.830	1.799
23	45	Scott Redding	Aprilia	1'31.835	1.804