On song Marquez soars for record-breaking Silverstone pole
Marc Marquez delivered his 60th premier class pole position from 120 premier class starts with a new lap record at the British Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo battled his physical condition.
Times were tumbling from early in the day as the Silverstone circuit record was improved on continuously throughout the day. The bar was provisionally set during Free Practice 3 when Marc Marquez was one of three riders to enter the 1’58s – over a second faster than the record from 2017.
Immediately in the 1’58s from his first flying lap of Q2, Marc Marquez left it late to set his fastest time as he secured pole with a 1’58.168 and set a new outright lap record around the Silverstone circuit. The record-breaking lap is his 60th pole position in the premier class on what is his 120th premier class start. This is also the World Championship leader’s eighth pole of the 2019 season and his fourth pole in a row.
Aside from his incredible pole lap, Marquez has demonstrated strong and consistent race pace throughout the weekend in Silverstone. The competition in the MotoGP World Championship is as close as ever as Marc Marquez prepares to battle for a potential 88th premier class podium with the Repsol Honda Team.
Jorge Lorenzo continued his efforts in returning to pre-injury form, improving his lap time with each session on track. Able to set a 2’01.562 during Q1, the still recovering Lorenzo has improved his pace by almost three seconds since Friday. Given his physical condition, Jorge Lorenzo is aware of the challenge a full distance MotoGP race at Silverstone presents on Sunday.
Sunday’s 20-lap British Grand Prix will begin at 13:00 local time as the second race of the day due to the unique running schedule of the British round.
Marc Marquez
“With the first tyre I felt really, really good and I just tried to find a good lap and I did my first lap alone. When we went out with the second tyre there was a fair bit of traffic, I was on top in the results so I did not want to push first. We were then waiting a bit and playing with our strategy and then on the last lap the tyres were ready and we made a really good lap. Valentino was ahead, maybe a little too far because I couldn’t profit fully from the slipstream. I think we can be strong in the race tomorrow, but for sure there are many rivals for tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo
“I am still limited a lot by my physical condition, tomorrow will be a difficult day but I want to race to test myself. I’m realistic about what to expect from the race, it’s not something I have experienced before in my career but I am the only rider on track with this kind of injury. It’s important to finish this weekend because it means I can be physically and mentally more prepared for the next test and races. We will try our hardest tomorrow and avoid any unnecessary risks.”
British Grand Prix Qualification Results
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Location Information
The Silverstone Circuit is long, fast and flowing, with a lot of fast changes of direction and a mixture of corners: the stadium section from Abbey through the Loop to Aintree is tight and technical, Woodcote and Copse are long and fast, the Maggotts/Becketts complex a bit of both. It… read more.
Length | 5.900 kilometres / 3.666 miles |
Width | 17 metres |
Left corners | 8 |
Right corners | 10 |
Longest straight | 0.770 kilometres / 0.478 miles |
Constructed | 1948 |
Modified | 2011 |
Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, United Kingdom - View in Google Maps
Records
Pole Position | 1m 57.309s (181.0 km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2024) |
Race Lap | 1m 58.895s (178.6 km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2024) |
Race Time | 39m 51.879s (177.6 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024) |
2024 Race Winner | Enea Bastianini (Ducati) |
2024 Sprint Winner | Enea Bastianini (Ducati) |