Marc Marquez underlined his dominance of MotoGP today when he swept to a record-equaling 12th pole position of the season on a good day for Spain ahead of the Australian challenge. The 21-year-old Repsol Honda rider clocked one minute 28.408 seconds to finish ahead of Ducati’s Cal Crutchlow by 0.234secs, with Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo a further eight-hundredths of a second behind in third.
This pole position gives Marc an equal record of most poles in a season held by Australians Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner. Should Marquez win Sunday’s Australian MotoGP it will be his 12th victory in 16 races this season, which will equal Doohan’s feat in his 1997 world championship season with the same Repsol Honda team. The fast 4.4-kilometre ocean-side circuit was formerly the domain of Australia’s double MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner, who won a record 6 times on the island before his retirement at the end of 2012. Marquez replaced Stoner at Honda and immediately established himself as a front-runner, although his extreme riding style made him more crash-prone.
| 2014 TISSOT AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION | ||||||
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | BEST TIME | ||
| 1 | 93 | MARC MARQUEZ | HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:28.408 | Q2 |
| 2 | 35 | CAL CRUTCHLOW | DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 1:28.642 | Q2 |
| 3 | 99 | JORGE LORENZO | YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 1:28.640 | Q2 |
| 4 | 38 | BRADLEY SMITH | YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 1:28.656 | Q2 |
| 5 | 26 | DANI PEDROSA | HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:28.675 | Q2 |
| 6 | 41 | ALEIX ESPARGARO | FORWARD YAMAHA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 1:28.866 | Q2 |
| 7 | 29 | ANDREA IANNONE | DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 1:28.887 | Q2 |
| 8 | 46 | VALENTINO ROSSI | YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 1:28.956 | Q2 |
| 9 | 44 | POL ESPARGARO | YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 1:28.968 | Q2 |
| 10 | 4 | ANDREA DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 1:29.088 | Q2 |
| 11 | 6 | STEFAN BRADL | HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 1:29.155 | Q2 |
| 12 | 7 | HIROSHI AOYAMA | HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 1:29.955 | Q2 |
| 13 | 45 | SCOTT REDDING | HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 1:30.280 | Q1 |
| 14 | 8 | HECTOR BARBERA | DUCATI | AVINTIA RACING | 1:30.348 | Q1 |
| 15 | 69 | NICKY HAYDEN | HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 1:30.542 | Q1 |
| 16 | 17 | KAREL ABRAHAM | HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 1:30.569 | Q1 |
| 17 | 19 | ALVARO BAUTISTA | HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 1:30.635 | Q1 |
| 18 | 68 | YONNY HERNANDEZ | DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 1:30.729 | Q1 |
| 19 | 9 | DANILO PETRUCCI | ART | OCTO IODARACING TEAM | 1:30.812 | Q1 |
| 20 | 63 | MIKE DI MEGLIO | AVINTIA | AVINTIA RACING | 1:31.431 | Q1 |
| 21 | 70 | MICHAEL LAVERTY | PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 1:31.492 | Q1 |
| 22 | 23 | BROC PARKES | PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 1:31.730 | Q1 |
| 23 | 15 | ALEX DE ANGELIS | FORWARD YAHAMA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 1:32.595 | Q1 |
