Photography by Gold & Goose
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez unleashed a 1:28.364s lap to storm his way to pole position at the 2015 Australian MotoGP at the seaside Phillip Island racetrack.
The current world champion has been in ominous form all weekend and was never seriously threatened at the top of the timesheets, despite surviving a scary front-end slide at the low-speed Honda Corner half way through the session.
Second went to Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone after the Italian made the most of Jorge Lorenzo’s pace by following the title challenger twice in the session, lifting himself into second on the grid despite setting the exact same time as Majorcan Lorenzo.
Lorenzo himself was irate with Iannone’s tactics, gesticulating to the Ducati rider on the slow-down lap and again in pit lane. It wasn’t all bad for Lorenzo; a third spot on the grid considerably favors him over his Movistar Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who could only manage seventh and a third row start.
Rossi has showed good race pace throughout the weekend but struggled for single lap performance. The Italian, leading the championship by 18 points over Lorenzo with three races to go, was on track for a second row start in sixth but was bumped back to seventh by a late charging Dani Pedrosa, who slotted the Repsol Honda into fourth ahead of Cal Crutchlow and the impressive Maverick Vinales.
The top 10 was rounded out by Vinales’ Suzuki teammate Aleix Espargaro, brother Pol, and Iannone’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso.
1 Marc Marquez Spa Honda 1:28.364
2 Andrea Iannone Ita Ducati 346.5 +0.316
3 Jorge Lorenzo Spa Yamaha +0.316
4 Dani Pedrosa Spa Honda +0.348
5 Cal Crutchlow Gbr Honda +0.548
6 Maverick Viñales Spa Suzuki +0.568
7 Valentino Rossi Ita Yamaha +0.650
8 Aleix Espargaro Spa Suzuki +0.651
9 Pol Espargaro Spa Yamaha +0.858
10 Andrea Dovizioso Ita Ducati +0.903
