MotoGP: Confident Marquez on pole at Silverstone Grand Prix as Brits struggle into top 10

Saturday 30th Aug 2014 – Repsol Honda Team rider Marquez marks his tenth pole position of a possible twelve after leading all practice and qualifying sessions at Silverstone. The Spaniard starts ahead of teammate Pedrosa who will start from the second row in fifth position.

Marc Marquez has performed flawlessly in the sessions leading up to the race at the British Grand Prix, leading every practice session and qualifying on pole. He led both practice rounds yesterday and did the same in both of today’s sessions, marking the end of the day with the best grid position for the race tomorrow. A positive day was also had by teammate Dani Pedrosa, who worked to improve on his setup and tomorrow will start from the center of the second row in fifth position.

Marquez’s best time was just a couple of tenths shy of his own outright lap record at Silverstone, which he set last year in much warmer temperatures, but was enough to see him finish 0.311 seconds ahead of Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso who continued his impressive form by claiming his third consecutive front row start. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo was third quickest in qualifying, the two-time World Champion overcoming a difficult first day at Silverstone to claim the final slot on the front row for the British Grand Prix. Each rider on the front row used a different tyre combination to set their personal best lap time; Marquez used the medium compound rear and soft compound front, Dovizioso was second quickest on the soft compound rear and soft front, while Lorenzo opted for the medium rear paired with the extra-soft compound front slick.

Marc Marquez, Pole- “It was a difficult qualifying session, because it was hard to get heat into the front tyre. However, I am happy with pole position –more than anything because of how comfortable I am feeling this weekend. I am finding it easy to set a fast pace, and this is important at this track, which is bumpy and long. Let’s hope that we have a sunny day tomorrow, or at least that it doesn’t rain, and we will try to fight for the win right from the first lap”.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)- “It’s really great to be on the front row again! In the last few races we’ve gone very well in qualifying, and I knew I could also do a good lap here at Silverstone. But above all I’m happy with my race pace: we have always used the medium tyre, which is probably what everyone will be using tomorrow. I think that we’ll have a chance of doing a good race and of being closer to the leaders, which is always our aim. So far the weekend has been very positive: we’ll have to see what this strange weather will reserve for us tomorrow, but we’ve been working well and I am very satisfied!”

Jorge Lorenzo – “I’m very satisfied and very proud of my lap time. I pushed to the limit and I improved six tenths of a second on the last lap compared to my first try. The soft tyre on the front is much better for our bike. I would like to use it tomorrow, but it will be a long race, so we have to improve the bike a little bit more during the warm-up to be more comfortable with the harder tyres. This year the engine and the clutch are different. I don’t have the same feeling, making it difficult to make similar starts to last year. Starting from third place of the grid is not the best position, because you are too much on the inside for the first corner, but it is still better to be on the first row than to be on the second. It’s a good position. Let’s try to improve the bike for tomorrow and try to stay with the front group during the race.”

Tomorrow at 13:00 local time, the twelfth round of the MotoGP championship will be contended.