Marc MarquezWorld champion Marc Marquez underlined his dominance of MotoGP when he swept to a record-equalling 12th pole position of the season on a good day for Spain at the Australian Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Honda rider, who sealed a second straight title in Japan last week, yesterday matched the feat of Australian greats Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner when he scorched around the track in one minute 28.408 seconds in qualifying practice.
Briton Cal Crutchlow (1.28.642) was second fastest to put Ducati on the front row of the grid for the first time this year with Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo (1.28.650) in third place for Yamaha.
“I’m really happy because we did not start the weekend very well,” Marquez told Speed TV.
“We will try and enjoy the race because this is our time to enjoy.
“We expect a hard-fought race (today), but I just have to enjoy it. Above all, it will be difficult to stop both Jorge and Valentino (Rossi), who seem to have the fastest race pace.
“My focus and ambition are the same as ever and we will try to be at the front, but also over the weekend we have been trying different things out with next season in mind.”
Marquez’s brother Alex boosted his chances of taking another step towards his first world title when he clinched pole for today’s Moto3 race while Australian Jack Miller, who trails the Honda rider by 25 points, could only manage eighth on his KTM.
Tito Rabat could secure another world title for Spain first, though, and he took pole in the Moto2 race, where a win with anything worse than third place for his team-mate Mika Kallio would make him champion.
Kallio, of Finland, will start in third place.