World Champion Marquez takes pole number twelve in Australia with Pedrosa 5th
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has today achieved his twelfth pole position of 2014, equalling the pole record in a single season held by fellow Repsol Honda riders Mick Doohan (1997) and Casey Stoner (2011). Teammate Dani Pedrosa will start from the second row in 5th position, but just 0.033 seconds off second place.
With track temperatures 10ºC lower than yesterday it was another difficult day for the riders, looking to find the optimum setup for this tricky circuit. Dani’s best time over the first three sessions (1’29.976) was not fast enough to promote him to Q2, finishing 0.031 seconds off tenth place. However, his time in Q1 of 1’29.097 was the fastest time set so far this weekend and immediately promoted him into Q1. After setting his fast lap, a brief rain shower arrived to disrupt proceedings but fortunately dried up before Q2 began.
With eleven riders within 0.747 seconds of each other, Marc was able to snatch pole position with his time of 1’28.408. Dani improved again from Q1 and his time of 1’28.675 places him in fifth on the grid.
Tomorrow’s 27 lap race will begin at 16h00 local time.
Marc Marquez
"Today I felt pretty good and that's important, because we found it hard yesterday and I was a bit too far off the pace. We improved a lot today and were riding more comfortably. We expect a hard-fought race tomorrow, but I just have to enjoy it. Above all, it will be difficult to stop both Jorge and Valentino, who seem to have the fastest race pace. My focus on track and ambition are the same as ever and we will try to be at the front, but also over the weekend we have been trying different things out with next season in mind.”
Dani Pedrosa
"It was a difficult day because I did not qualify directly for Q2. I had many problems in the morning session, which also came up in the afternoon practice. However, in qualifying I took a big step forward. Unfortunately, as I had to go through Q1 I lost a tyre and in Q2 I could only use one. Nevertheless, my lap time was pretty good and, although I was bested by a few thousandths of a second, I could have placed very high up on the grid. Tomorrow we will try to fight our hardest in the race and get a good start, then concentrate on making each lap perfect.”
Results Session
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
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Location Information
Phillip Island, the self-styled home of Australian motorsport, is steeped in motor racing tradition, with the first car races having been held there on public roads in the 1920s. The first motorcycle races took place in 1931 and a permanent track was built in 1956. The circuit fell into disrepair… read more.
| Length | 4.448 kilometres / 2.764 miles |
| Width | 13 metres |
| Left corners | 7 |
| Right corners | 5 |
| Longest straight | 0.900 kilometres / 0.559 miles |
| Constructed | 1956 |
| Modified | 1988 |
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island, Ventnor, Victoria, Australia - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 27.246s (183.5 km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m 28.108s (181.7 km/h) Marc Marquez (Honda, 2013) |
| Race Time | 40m 33.849s (177.6 km/h) Marc Marquez (Honda, 2015) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Johann Zarco (Ducati) |
