Title within reach as Marquez starts ‘The Decider’ from pole

2013-11-09 14:11
Repsol Honda Team’s title chaser Marc Marquez registered a superb new pole record of 1'30.237 in the final stages of Q2 at Valencia at the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, putting himself ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and Repsol’s Dani Pedrosa on the grid for Sunday’s title deciding race.

World Champion Lorenzo broke Pedrosa’s pole record of 1’30.844s from 2012 with a 1'30.645 lap on his first attempt, but was troubled by engine problems with his number one bike, as well as an issue with the rear brake, and eventually finished 0.34s behind Marquez in second. Completing the front row is Pedrosa, and like Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi – who qualified fourth, 0.7s off pole – he could have a big say in the title battle on Sunday if he can get in front of Lorenzo or Marquez in the race.

The likes of Cal Crutchlow, on his last weekend with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, and colleague Bradley Smith, are unlikely to fight for victory at the final round, but they will try to challenge for top five or even podium positions. They both qualified within a second of Marquez on row two.

Heading the third row is GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, who crashed out but walked away unhurt. He starts just ahead of LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso. For his final appearance on a Ducati, Nicky Hayden qualified tenth. Meanwhile, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone and Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci were the two riders to make it through from Q1, but could not challenge the top 10. The best of the rest from Q1 were Hector Barbera, Aleix Espargaro and Claudio Corti who will therefore line up on the fifth row.

If Marquez finishes tomorrow’s race in fourth place or higher, he will be crowned World Champion regardless of where Lorenzo finishes. He has shown that his pace is certainly high enough for such a finish, and will hope for a good get-away off the line. The main permutations for riders tomorrow will be the rear slick tyres, with both the softer and harder options useable. The majority of the grid will use tomorrow morning’s Warm-up to decide.


Moto2™

New Moto2™ World Champion Pol Espargaro is in great form at the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, setting a new pole position record of 1'34.957 to head the grid for his final race in the class, ahead of Simone Corsi and Jordi Torres.

Espargaro was in scintillating form as he became the only rider to dive underneath the 1’35.000 barrier, a comfortable three tenths of a second ahead as his Tuenti HP 40 machine sailed to a seventh pole position of the campaign. Italy’s Corsi prevented an all-Spanish front row for NGM Mobile Racing, while Torres picked up a second third-place qualifying result in three race meetings.

Espargaro’s teammate Tito Rabat missed out on a front row starting position by seven thousandths of a second, with only a further four thousandths back to Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi promising an exciting fight on Sunday. The top six was rounded out by Nico Terol, Torres’ teammate at Aspar, as the team prepares for its home race. Alex de Angelis will head Row 3 for NGM Mobile Forward Racing, with Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco and Maptaq SAG Zelos Team’s Xavier Simeon eighth and ninth.

A tough weekend for Marc VDS Racing Team ended in 12th and 17th places for Mika Kallio and the injured Scott Redding, while there were star performances from Gino Rea (Gino Rea Montaze Broz Racing) and Franco Morbidelli to achieve respective 13th and 23rd spots. Blusens Avintia’s Alex Mariñelarena has been declared unfit and was therefore unable to take part in the qualifying session, leaving a 33-rider field ahead of Sunday afternoon’s 27-lap encounter.


Moto3™

Alex Rins will start from pole position for Sunday’s three-way Moto3™ title shootout in Valencia. The Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider was just 16 thousandths of a second quicker than championship leader Luis Salom, with final contender Maverick Viñales third. A race victory would seal the title for either one of the trio.

Heading into the 17th and final round of the Moto3™ campaign, just five points cover Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Viñales (Team Calvo) and Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) atop the championship standings, meaning a race win for any of the front-row starters will seal the 2013 title regardless of their rivals’ positions. On Saturday, despite Salom having topped two of the three practice sessions, Rins topped the qualifying timesheets with his best effort of 1’39.459.

‘Best of the rest’ behind the championship top three was Jonas Folger for Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3, while Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG) and Niccolo Antonelli (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the second row. Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez will line up seventh and could play a role in the championship fight should he run at the front of the race, while the top ten on the grid will be rounded out by Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou, Salom’s teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Efren Vazquez on the first of the Mahindra Racing machines.

There was a crash for Vazquez’s teammate Miguel Oliveira with four minutes remaining in the session, while Hyuga Watanabe also hit trouble when he lost control of his La Fonte Tascaracing bike at the final corner. Qualifying was not without misfortune for Florian Alt (Kiefer Racing) either; he will start at the back of the grid following a crash.

Source: MotoGP

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