Photo: motogp.com
It’s time to witness sporting history in the making, with Marc Marquez adding again his name in the MotoGP books. Dani Pedrosa topped FP3 earlier this morning, followed by Lorenzo and MM93, with Dovizioso and Bradl for top 5 again on a dry track, but nobody could drop under the 2-minute lap time.
Still things changed in Qualifying 2, when the two Repsol Honda riders were the only ones to post under-2’ lap times. Marquez was the fastest rider today on the Sepang asphalt and qualified first on the grid with a 1’59.791 lap time, 0.182 faster than his team mate Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo also starts from the first row of the grid, with Stefan Bradl, Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi in the second row.
Aleix Espargaro is constant as usual, and is the best-placed Open class rider. He leads row three and shares it with Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith. The last three riders in Q2 were Alvaro Bautista, accompanied by Hiroshi Aoyama and Pol Espargaro.
With this result, Marc Marquez becomes the first rider ever to clinch 13 pole positions in one season, beating Casey Stoner’s former record and adding one more to his name. However, there is still the final showdown in Valencia, so we might just see the bar raised once more.
His Yamaha subsequently caught on fire, but the marshals were close and had things under control. Pol Espargaro was admitted into the medical center and was diagnosed with a fractured metatarsal bone in his left foot. It remains to be seen whether the doctors will declare him fit to race for Sunday.
So far we know that Andrea Iannone will unfortunately not take part in the Sepang race, as he is struggling for strength in his left arm. Iannone took a hard fall on Friday and was seen limping and holding his left arm as he walked away from the crash site.
There are two more races left in this season and it looks like we could be in for more record breaking form Marquez. Still, the battle between Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa for the other two places on the podium will definitely be the main attraction at both Sepang and Valencia.
Aleix Espargaro is constant as usual, and is the best-placed Open class rider. He leads row three and shares it with Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith. The last three riders in Q2 were Alvaro Bautista, accompanied by Hiroshi Aoyama and Pol Espargaro.
With this result, Marc Marquez becomes the first rider ever to clinch 13 pole positions in one season, beating Casey Stoner’s former record and adding one more to his name. However, there is still the final showdown in Valencia, so we might just see the bar raised once more.
Huge crash, bike of fire for Pol Espargaro
Free Practice 3 saw a huge crash for Tech3 Yamaha’s rookie Pol Espargaro. His bike appeared to leave a trail of smoke at a certain point before the crash. Then a massive high-side crash occurred, projecting the young Espargaro high into the air. He had a very hard landing, but was however lucky not to be hit by his own bike.His Yamaha subsequently caught on fire, but the marshals were close and had things under control. Pol Espargaro was admitted into the medical center and was diagnosed with a fractured metatarsal bone in his left foot. It remains to be seen whether the doctors will declare him fit to race for Sunday.
So far we know that Andrea Iannone will unfortunately not take part in the Sepang race, as he is struggling for strength in his left arm. Iannone took a hard fall on Friday and was seen limping and holding his left arm as he walked away from the crash site.
There are two more races left in this season and it looks like we could be in for more record breaking form Marquez. Still, the battle between Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa for the other two places on the podium will definitely be the main attraction at both Sepang and Valencia.
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