Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken an incredible pole position – his 30th in MotoGP – as he chases his first win in the premier class at Phillip Island, but unfortunately teammate Dani Pedrosa was demoted from second to fourth in the dying seconds of qualifying according to a Repsol Honda release.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo rode as smoothly as ever around the Phillip Island circuit today, taking third position for tomorrow‘s Australian Grand Prix. Teammate Valentino Rossi also felt the tension build before the crucial qualifying session, and secured seventh place on the grid, adds Movistar Yamaha team release.

Since Saturday Honda notes of FP2, Marc has led every session here in Phillip Island and immediately shot to the top on his first exit in qualifying. On his second run, Marc was on track to improve his time again however, a big moment in turn four – where he was lucky to save the bike from crashing – forced him back into the pits for new rubber for his final third exit. Marc delivered an incredible lap, improving his first run by three tenths with a time of 1’28.364 and securing pole position.

Dani found traffic on his first flying lap but was then able to get a fast lap in. On his second run, he improved by half a second and his time of 1’28.712 placed him second with just a handful of riders remaining. However, in the final moments, Lorenzo and Iannone crossed the line with identical times just 0.032 seconds ahead of Dani and relegated him to fourth.

Tomorrow’s race will begin at 16h00 local time.

Marc Marquez

1ST  1'28.364

"I am pleased with how the day went, and of course with pole position! Thanks to the team for all their work, we have a good pace for tomorrow and we are ready to fight for the podium and hopefully the victory tomorrow. However we must wait and see what happens, because here every day is different; it can be sunny but then all of a sudden clouds can appear, and the key will be interpreting how the track conditions are, in order to have a good race."

Results Session

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Time/Gap

1

MARQUEZ Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

1'28.364

2

IANNONE Andrea

29

ITA

Ducati Team

1'28.680

3

LORENZO Jorge

99

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

1'28.680

4

PEDROSA Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

1'28.712

5

CRUTCHLOW Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

1'28.912

6

VINALES Maverick

25

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

1'28.932

7

ROSSI Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

1'29.014

8

ESPARGARO Aleix

41

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

1'29.015

9

ESPARGARO Pol

44

SPA

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

1'29.222

10

DOVIZIOSO Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

1'29.267

11

REDDING Scott

45

GBR

Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS

1'29.499

12

SMITH Bradley

38

GBR

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

1'29.626

13

PETRUCCI Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

1'29.918

14

BARBERA Hector

8

SPA

Avintia Racing

1'30.064

15

MILLER Jack

43

AUS

LCR Honda

1'30.104

16

LAVERTY Eugene

50

IRE

Aspar MotoGP Team

1'30.105

17

HERNANDEZ Yonny

68

COL

Pramac Racing

1'30.135

18

BAUTISTA Alvaro

19

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

1'30.147

19

BAZ Loris

76

FRA

Athina Forward Racing

1'30.173

20

HAYDEN Nicky

69

USA

Aspar MotoGP Team

1'30.376

21

BRADL Stefan

6

GER

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

1'30.634

22

DI MEGLIO Mike

63

FRA

Avintia Racing

1'30.959

23

WEST Anthony

13

AUS

AB Motoracing