bigbadbrother
03-22-2014, 08:52 PM
World Champion Marc Marquez will start from pole position as he begins the defense of his MotoGP title at the season opening Qatar Grand Prix.
Marquez and a squadron of factory bikes busted open the form guide in qualifying with hot favorite Aleix Espargaro slumping to ninth on the third row for the 22-lap race.
Marquez, 21, has been cautiously but meticulously building to top pace as he recovers from a broken leg suffered six weeks ago in a dirt bike accident.
He claimed the first pole of the season with a time of 1:54.507s.
Despite the huge benefit of an extra-soft tire and power-boosting fuel allocation, Espargaro could not maintain the form that had seen him dominate three days of practice in Doha.
He crashed twice in the session to qualify ninth on the third row.
Factory bikes claimed the top three positions with Alvaro Bautista (Honda) and Bradley Smith (Yamaha) completing the front row with the trio separated by just 99 thousandths of a second.
It was Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who made the most of the rules gift allowed to the red team in a bid to end their embarrassing three year losing streak.
Dovizioso’s Ducati GP14 is a factory entry but allowed the soft tire and extra fuel of the open class bikes, at least until it starts winning again.
Indications that Espargaro could fight for the podium in Qatar took a big hit in qualifying and he will struggle for clear air in the frantic battle for track position in the early laps.
Espargaro is sandwiched on the grid by two hard core racers – Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 10th and Ducati’s Cal Cructhlow in eighth.
Rossi again qualified poorly and was more than 0.5s slower than Marquez’s pole time. Crutchlow was 0.1s quicker than Aleix Espargaro.
Marquez’s Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa will start from sixth, one spot behind fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who was fifth fastest qualifier as he bids for a third consecutive MotoGP race win in Qatar.
Marquez and a squadron of factory bikes busted open the form guide in qualifying with hot favorite Aleix Espargaro slumping to ninth on the third row for the 22-lap race.
Marquez, 21, has been cautiously but meticulously building to top pace as he recovers from a broken leg suffered six weeks ago in a dirt bike accident.
He claimed the first pole of the season with a time of 1:54.507s.
Despite the huge benefit of an extra-soft tire and power-boosting fuel allocation, Espargaro could not maintain the form that had seen him dominate three days of practice in Doha.
He crashed twice in the session to qualify ninth on the third row.
Factory bikes claimed the top three positions with Alvaro Bautista (Honda) and Bradley Smith (Yamaha) completing the front row with the trio separated by just 99 thousandths of a second.
It was Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who made the most of the rules gift allowed to the red team in a bid to end their embarrassing three year losing streak.
Dovizioso’s Ducati GP14 is a factory entry but allowed the soft tire and extra fuel of the open class bikes, at least until it starts winning again.
Indications that Espargaro could fight for the podium in Qatar took a big hit in qualifying and he will struggle for clear air in the frantic battle for track position in the early laps.
Espargaro is sandwiched on the grid by two hard core racers – Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 10th and Ducati’s Cal Cructhlow in eighth.
Rossi again qualified poorly and was more than 0.5s slower than Marquez’s pole time. Crutchlow was 0.1s quicker than Aleix Espargaro.
Marquez’s Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa will start from sixth, one spot behind fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who was fifth fastest qualifier as he bids for a third consecutive MotoGP race win in Qatar.