Marquez Has Pole Position

Moto GP 2014

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www.motorcycle-usa.com  By Byron Wilson

MotoGP Argentina Qualifying Results 2014

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took his third pole position of the 2014 MotoGP season at Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina. The defending world champion outpaced the second-fastest rider, Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha, by over seven-tenths of a second. Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, finished in the number three position.



Marquez got down to business early, besting his previous fastest lap by almost one second in his first fast pass. The Spaniard followed that up later in the session with another stellar run, making him the only rider to dip into the 1’37 range so far this round.

"Today I really felt good on the bike and I am happy to have taken pole position," said Marquez. "In the morning and in FP4, we worked a lot with the used tire and this afternoon we obviously focused on qualifying. I put in a very good lap and I think that tomorrow it will be interesting to see which tire will be required for the race, because there are various options for both the front and the rear ?it is going to be a difficult choice! One of the keys for the race will be tire management, in order to try to get to the end with optimal grip ?which will allow us to make the difference."

NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro heads-up the second row followed by Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso in fifth and Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, in sixth. Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith qualified through from Q1 and scored seventh in Q2, followed by Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone in eighth and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl in ninth. Bradl suffered a nasty crash mid-session but was able to pick himself up off the track, though he didn't continue qualifying after the incident.

MotoGP Argentina Qualifying Results 2014 
1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 1’37.683 
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’38.425 
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’38.651 
4. Aleix Espargaro (Forward Yamaha) 1’38.794 
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1’38.856 
6. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’38.949 
7. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 1’38.958 
8. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1’39.237 
9. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 1’39.297 
10. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 1’39.429 
And if you missed the Friday Report...
Marquez was unhurried in FP1, trailing leader Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha by more than two seconds at the end of the session. The defending world champion wasted little time in reasserting his place at the top in FP2 though, cutting his best morning time by nearly five seconds on his second flying lap. He gained speed throughout and nearing the end of the day posted back-to-back 1’39 laps.

"It was a fun day, it is always interesting to learn all the different corners and their secrets at a new track and the practice sessions go by more quickly," said Marquez. "Maybe the day was affected by the first session, in which we sacrificed putting in a fast lap in order to keep the same tire on during the entire session. That was to enable us to keep more tires for the remainder of the weekend. This afternoon we were able to have a more normal practice session and the track had improved a lot. The tire durability also seemed much greater than before, and I think that it will continue improving as the weekend goes on."

LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl posted the fourth-fastest time, followed by Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso in fifth. Dovi lost a chunk of time mid-session after his GP14’s engine blew-up early on. He was able to remain upright and pull the bike off into the gravel, returning later on his second bike to drop a sequence of 1’41s. Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith took sixth ahead of his teammate, Pol Espargaro, in seventh.

Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, finished off FP2 with a series of laps in the 1’41 range as well, coming up just two-hundredths of a second short of Pol Espargaro’s time. Lorenzo trailed Rossi in ninth, 2.2 second adrift of the leader. Ducati’s Andrea Iannone took 10th, returning to the track after losing the front end early in the session. He sailed over the handlebars and slid off track in the incident, but was able to walk away without serious injury.

 
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