MotoGP | Austrian GP Qualifying: Pole for Marquez, Ducati beaten

MotoGP GP Austria Qualifying – Amazing pole position for Marc Marquez at the Red Bull Ring, scene of the Austrian Grand Prix, eleventh stage of the 2018 MotoGP.

The Honda rider won it with a time of 1:23.241, preceding the official Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo, respectively 0.002s and 0.135s behind that of Danilo Petrucci's Team Pramac (+0.262s), with the latter which will open the second row.

For the Honda champion it is the fourth pole of the season, the 49th in MotoGP, 77th in his career.

Fifth time for Cal Crutchlow's Team LCR Honda, which preceded the best of the Yamahas, the M1 SAT of Frenchman Joahnn Zarco.

Third row for Tito Rabat's Ducati, Andrea Iannone's Suzuki and Dani Pedrosa's Honda. Alex Rins, Maverick Vinales and Alvaro Bautista will start on the fourth row.

Qualifying to forget for Valentino Rossi, who took part in Q1, but was unable to access the final phase, Q2. For the Pesaro driver, who will start fourteenth, it is the worst qualifying on dry surfaces since 2011.

A battle is expected for tomorrow between the Ducatis and Marc Marquez, with Rossi called to a prohibitive task, to recover, on a track where he has never been on the podium and which Yamaha has not digested.