Zarco nips Marquez for pole in Qatar

Marquez congratulates Johann Zarco

Beating a lap record which has stood for a decade, Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) stunned the MotoGP field to take pole position at the Grand Prix of Qatar, 0.202s ahead of his rivals with a lap time of 1.53.680.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will line up at the Losail International Circuit in second position on the grid, as the reigning world champion was also able to lap under the record pace on his final flying stint. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) completes the front row, continuing his strong pace throughout the weekend with the Desmosedici – as he was the final rider to break the 2008 lap record.

The third row will be led by Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), matching his grid position in 2017 under the floodlights. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) ended qualifying in eighth position as he was unable to secure a fast lap time, narrowly ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team).

Q1’s fastest man Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) took 10th position this evening, beating Andrea Iannone (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) in 11th, whilst 2017 race winner Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start 2018 from 12th position.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) prepares to line up from 13th on the grid after a competitive Q1 session, ahead of rookies Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who will make their debuts from 14th and 15th position.

Marc Marquez 93
“I’m really happy with the result as we’ve worked a lot during the pre-season and we worked a lot here, a track that, together with Sepang, is probably the least favorable circuit to me. Today was the first real “time attack" and we were there, and now we are on the front row. Adding to the satisfaction is the fact that normally we struggle quite a lot here. But our target was the front row, we got it and it feels like a pole! Johann rode amazingly; he was one step ahead of us. Anyway, the race will be tough and long, but we’ll try to be consistent and to manage the laps in the best way possible."

Lineup

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Team	Constructor	Time
1	ZARCO Johann	5	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1'53.680
2	MARQUEZ Marc	93	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1'53.882
3	PETRUCCI Danilo	9	ITA	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	1'53.887
4	CRUTCHLOW Cal	35	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	1'54.072
5	DOVIZIOSO Andrea	4	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1'54.074
6	RINS Alex	42	SPA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	1'54.339
7	PEDROSA Dani	26	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1'54.368
8	ROSSI Valentino	46	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1'54.389
9	LORENZO Jorge	99	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1'54.431
10	MILLER Jack	43	AUS	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	1'54.449
11	IANNONE Andrea	29	ITA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	1'54.619
12	VINALES Maverick	25	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1'54.707
13	ESPARGARO Aleix	41	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1'55.140
14	MORBIDELLI Franco	21	ITA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	1'55.169
15	SYAHRIN Hafizh	55	MAL	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1'55.258
16	RABAT Tito	53	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1'55.273
17	REDDING Scott	45	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1'55.380
18	LUTHI Tom	12	SWI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	1'55.381
19	ABRAHAM Karel	17	CZE	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	1'55.392
20	SMITH Bradley	38	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1'55.553
21	BAUTISTA Alvaro	19	SPA	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	1'55.638
22	ESPARGARO Pol	44	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1'55.706
23	NAKAGAMI Takaaki	30	JPN	LCR Honda	Honda	1'56.401
24	SIMEON Xavier	10	BEL	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1'56.545

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