Marc Marquez will start tomorrow’s MotoGP Grand Prix of Aragon from pole position after beating his own lap record in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Marquez arrived at Motorland Aragon in need of a victory as he bids to make up the 63 point gap to championship leader Valentino Rossi in the final five races of the 2015 season.
Having started on pole for both of his previous MotoGP appearances at the Spanish circuit, Marquez maintained his impressive qualifying record by storming to his seventh pole position of the year.
The Spaniard edged out compatriot Jorge Lorenzo by just one-tenth of a second at the end of Q2, setting a new lap record of 1:46.635 to capture pole.
However, Marquez’s session was not without drama as he crashed during his third run when pushing to find even more time. The Honda rider walked away unharmed and with his pride intact as he retained pole position.
“I did not expect that time on my first lap, and it was a nice surprise!” Marquez admitted. “With the second tire I made a small mistake and could not improve it, and with the third I went too hard on the wrong corner and I had a small crash.
“This morning we made a big step forward with the setup and now we are more competitive. We will try to fight for victory from the first lap of the race tomorrow. I think we’ve done a great job and we are happy with this pole position.”
Marquez is joined on the front row by Lorenzo and Ducati’s Andrea Iannone as championship leader Rossi could only qualify sixth, slotting onto the second row behind Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.