Moto GP ; Marc Marquez takes Le Mans pole position

from Twowheelsblog

We’ve run out of accolades to describe the super talented Marc Marquez. The Repsol Honda rookie did it again as he took his second pole position of the 2013 season in today’s qualifying session at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans.

If a pole position in the Austing GP was more than expected at the French circuit, Marquez learned the layout so well so well that he posted a flying lap in a stunning 1:33.187, shrugging off his FP4 crash just fifteen minutes before QP2.

Only the hammering laps of Jorge Lorenzo could keep up with the Repsol Honda rider and he finished a mere 0.030s adrift, but just checking out the time sectors you can see that the Yamaha rider is a war machine more than prepared for tomorrow’s race.

Andrea Dovizioso took the third spot on the front row, and giving Ducati their first front start after Nicky Hayden’s last year qualifying result at Jerez. Dovizioso also managed to pip by just 0.006s a battered and heroic Cal Crutchlow for the position, proving that the Ducati does like the French circuit.

Fifth fastest was Alvaro Bautista who also a little battered after his crash yesterday and he’ll have a fellow Honda rider next to him Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda had posted the second best time but then crashed out at turn 3 - the Dunlop chicane - that has caught out so many riders this weekend which left his down in sixth.

Opening the the third row will be Stefan Bradl, while Valentino Rossi has another horrible qualifying ending up 8th and more than eight tenths of second from his own team mate, losing a massive amount of time in the braking sections of the first and third sectors. Bradley Smith took ninth and just two tenths slower than Rossi, while Nicky Hayden rounded out the top ten with Aspar CRT riders Aleix Espargaro and Randy De Puniet in 11th and 12th.

2013 MotoGP Le Mans QP2 results:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’33.187
02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.030
03- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.416
04- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.422
05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.447
06- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.452
07- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.797
08- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.822
09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.035
10- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.055

2013 MotoGP Le Mans Starting Grid:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V
02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1
03- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13
04- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V
06- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V
07- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V
08- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1
09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
10- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13
11- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13
12- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13