Marc Marquez will start tomorrow’s MotoGP British Grand Prix at Silverstone after setting a new lap record during qualifying on Saturday.
Marquez managed to beat his existing lap record by four-tenths of a second in Q2 to edge out Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo by 0.288 seconds in the final battle for pole position.
The result marks Marquez’s sixth pole of the year, but the Spaniard revealed after the session that he thought more time could have been gained across his lap.
“It was a good qualifying session,” Marquez said. “When I did the first lap I noticed that if put together the perfect lap, maybe I could get very close to 1:59.
“But I noticed I was right on the limit a couple of times, and especially in the last sector I was missing a little something under braking.
“In the end what counts is that we took pole position. You can always improve, but it was a very good lap.”
Championship leader Lorenzo was forced to settle for second place ahead of Marquez’s Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who qualified third as his comeback from an injury earlier in the season continues.
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi’s qualifying struggles continued as he could only finish fourth in Saturday’s session, leaving him on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race start.
Tech 3 riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith finished fifth and sixth, with the latter being the highest-starting home driver for tomorrow’s race at Silverstone. Smith is followed on the grid by compatriots Scott Redding and Cal Crutchlow, who finished seventh and eighth respectively.
To see the full results from qualifying at Silverstone, click here.