Photography by Larry Lawrence
INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 9, 2014) – Marc Marquez continued his remarkable 2014 by earning the pole for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP with a time of 1:31.619 on his Repsol Honda. It marked his eighth pole of the season in 10 races and the second consecutive year Marquez will start on the pole in Indianapolis.
Joining the defending World Champion on the front row Sunday will be Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati and Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. Dovizioso’s time of 1:31.844 was 0.225 behind Marquez’ pole-winning lap. It is the best qualifying position of the season for Dovi, his previous best coming in France where he qualified third. For Lorenzo this marked his fifth front row start of 2014.
The second row will feature Valentino Rossi flanked by the Espargaro brothers (Aleix and Pol) on either side of him.
Marquez ran off the track in turn one on his first flying lap, but was able to take the escape road and reenter the track. Lorenzo set the time to beat on the opening laps with a 1:32.177.
Marquez recovered from his run-off to clock the fast time halfway through the session with a 1:31.718.
As riders pitted halfway through the 15-minute session it was Marquez leading Lorenzo and Pedrosa.
With three minutes to go Pol Espargaro moved into third on the timing charts. Then with just under two minutes to go Dovizioso shadowed Marquez for a lap and that helped him move to second.
With just seconds to go in the session Bradley Smith was thrown violently off his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. His left hand appeared to get stuck under the bike for a few seconds as he slid across the pavement.
Marquez will try to continue his undefeated streak tomorrow starting from the pole.
“Of course I am happy for the pole,” Marquez said. “Because after the holiday it’s important to start like that. The most important is to have a good race tomorrow. We will try to do our best as always. It will be important to choose the right tire.”
Colin Edwards, the lone American in the field, qualified 15th on his NGM Forward Racing Yamaha in the final Grand Prix on American soil.
Leon Camier, in his MotoGP debut as a fill-in rider for the injured Nicky Hayden, qualified 16th on the Drive M7 Aspar Honda.
The race will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 2:00 pm Eastern.
Final Qualifying for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP – Aug. 9, 2014
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 31.619s [Lap 6/8] 343km/h (Top Speed)
2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 31.844s +0.225s [6/8] 345km/h
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 31.869s +0.250s [7/8] 337km/h
4. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 32.113s +0.494s [6/7] 336km/h
5. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 32.160s +0.541s [7/8] 341km/h
6. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 32.243s +0.624s [6/8] 340km/h
7. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 32.254s +0.635s [6/8] 340km/h
8. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.331s +0.712s [3/8] 342km/h
9. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 32.343s +0.724s [6/7] 339km/h
10. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 32.514s +0.895s [3/8] 347km/h
11. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R) 1m 32.714s +1.095s [2/8] 326km/h
12. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 32.794s +1.175s [5/7] 343km/h
13. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 33.166s
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 33.294s
15. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 33.625s
16. Leon Camier GBR Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 33.747s
17. Danilo Petrucci ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) 1m 33.837s
18. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 33.948s
19. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia) 1m 34.244s
20. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) 1m 34.332s
21. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 1m 34.369s
22. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 34.764s
23. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 34.814s
