Marquez Grabs Super Silverstone Pole With Record Lap

Aug 29, 2015
3 min read

Marc Marquez will start tomorrow's Octo British Grand Prix from pole position after a sensational lap from the Honda rider.

Marquez came out of the box swinging, going top straight away with a record lap of 2:00.564. Then, on his second run, he went even quicker. The Spaniard was pushing his RC213V right to the limit around the 3.6-mile Silverstone circuit and crossed the line to cement his top spot with a lap of 2:00.234. But this pace isn't just for show over one lap as Marc showed very strong race pace in FP4. He was able to set a succession of mid-high 2:01s on the hard rear Bridgestone.

Jorge Lorenzo will start alongside his compatriot after a strong lap right at the end of the session of 2:00.534. But the Yamaha rider will be left scratching his head after looking strong through practice. Even his race pace is lacking relative to Marquez having failed to set any times in the 2:01s on race simulations in FP4. What the three-time Silverstone winner will be counting on is the typically unpredictable British weather tomorrow. Though the forecast states that the rain will stay away, the temperature is set to be quite low which will play into the hands of the Yamaha-mounted riders, Lorenzo in particular.

Valentino Rossi has admitted that this weekend will be tough, but he has at least put himself into a decent position for the race having qualified 4th after a late lap of 2:00.947. The Doctor sits level with team-mate Lorenzo in the standings and needs to quickly curb the Spaniard's momentum if he is to keep a tenth title within reach. His race pace is not too bad in comparison with Lorenzo, though he still needs to find a little more. The Italian heads an all Yamaha second row with both Tech 3 bikes alongside. Pol Espargaro outpaced Bradley Smith by a tenth, with the Spaniard looking ever so slightly quicker on the long runs.

Starting just behind Smith is his fellow countrymen Scott Redding and Cal Crutchlow. The Marc VDS rider is having a really good weekend so far with the Honda – it appears to be more obedient. Cal's weekend started off a bit sluggish, but began to ramp up the pace as he grew more confident with the bike and the track conditions. Expect a great fight tomorrow for British pride.

The surprise of the day came from Ducati who suffered a mystifying loss of form. Andrea Iannone could only manage 9th, whilst Andrea Dovizioso put his GP15 12th. This is a circuit that should very much suit the Ducati, so their pace in qualifying will be of some concern. To rub salt in Dovizioso's wounds Yonny Hernandez sneaked ahead of the Italian of the Pramac bike. The Colombian comes to Silverstone with his future at Pramac very much in doubt, but it doesn't seemed to have impacted him. If anything it has made him push that bit harder. Yonny put in a brilliant lap in QP1 to deny Suzuki's Maverick Vinales a spot in QP2, and Hernandez continued to go 11th quickest with a 2:01.894. Team-mate Danilo Petrucci will start a disappointing 18th.

Forward Racing's Loris Baz enjoyed a good day on the open class Yamaha and qualified a very respectable 15th, just two tenths shy of the Aprilia of Stefan Bradl in 14th. Alex De Angelis brings up the rear of the field on the IodaRacing ART.

2015 British Grand Prix Qualifying – The Grid:

1st Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, 2:00.234

2nd Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 2:00.522

3rd Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 2:00.716

4th Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 2:00.947

5th Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 2:01.031

6th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 2:01.140

7th Scott Redding, EG Marc VDS Honda, 2:01.329

8th Cal Crutchlow, Givi LCR Honda, 2:01.376

9th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team, 2:01.874

10th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 2:01.880

11th Yonny Hernandez, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati, 2:01.894