The MotoGP™ Q2 session at Phillip Island saw 2014 World Champion Marc Marquez take pole, with Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo also securing front row starts for Sunday’s Tissot Australian Grand Prix race.
After light rain fell before Q2 the riders were not overly affected as the track remained dry with Marquez taking pole position with a 1’28.408 lap, outpacing his nearest rival by 0.234s. By taking his 12th pole of the season, Marquez matched Casey Stoner’s record of most poles in a MotoGP season.
Crutchlow (Ducati Team) showed his pace with the second best lap of the session, giving Ducati another front row result after Andrea Dovizioso’s pole at Motegi. It is Crutchlow’s first front row this year.
Completing the front row, Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lapped just 0.008s behind Crutchlow for third, making it three different manufacturers on row one.
Heading the second row Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was on a similar pace, just 0.006s behind Lorenzo. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) was in fifth, again just fractionally (0.19s) behind the rider in front, having made it through from Q1.
Just before rain began to fall in Q1 Pedrosa set the fastest time in that session and the fastest of the weekend at that point – 1’29.097. That was a significant improvement on his 1’29.976 in FP3.
Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) completed the second row, just in front of third row qualifiers Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3).
The fourth row, meanwhile, features Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar). Japanese rider Aoyama also went through from Q1 with Pedrosa but could only qualify 12th.
(MotoGP.com Press Release)