Lorenzo signe le meilleur temps du vendredi à Sepang / Lorenzo strikes first in Sepang

Le Majorquin est parvenu à passer devant les pilotes Repsol Honda lors d’une chaude après-midi en Malaisie.

                

Suite à ce que Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ait dominé la première séance d’essais du Grand Prix Shell de Malaisie vendredi matin à Sepang, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a été le pilote le plus rapide l’après-midi et a surtout réussi à battre le chrono de son compatriote de près de deux dixièmes de seconde pour finir la journée en tête. 

                    

Pedrosa était cependant lui aussi en progrès et finissait à seulement à 0.047s du Majorquin tandis que Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) se maintenait dans le Top 3, à 0.226s du leader. 

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) a profité de l’après-midi pour se rapprocher des premières places et finir quatrième, à un rien de Márquez et malgré une chute dans le virage 8. Son compatriote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté été l’un des quelques pilotes qui n’ont pas amélioré leurs meilleurs temps personnels l’après-midi et a terminé la journée à plus de six dixièmes de son coéquipier, qu’il devance de onze points au classement général avant l’avant-dernière manche de la saison.

                     

Tombé le matin, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) a démontré une certaine compétitivité l’après-midi et a pris la sixième place sur le classement combiné, devant Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing).

                      

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a impressionné et a fini onzième, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ainsi que les pilotes du team Monster Yamaha Tech3, Pol Espargaró et Bradley Smith. L’Espagnol était de loin le premier pilote Open tandis que son coéquipier Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont pris les 21e et 22 positions, respectivement, sur le classement combiné.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement.

Jorge Lorenzo ends Friday on top of the combined timesheets to lay down a marker to his title rival Rossi who finished in fifth.

               

In the hot and humid conditions (Track temp. 47˚C) at the Sepang International Circuit it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who ended the day on top to send out a message to his title rival Valentino Rossi. All of the talk before the riders took to the track was about Rossi’s comments revolving around Marc Marquez from the Press Conference, but it was Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate Lorenzo that stole the show amongst the haze at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Lorenzo had played second fiddle to Dani Pedrosa in the morning’s FP1 session, but after spending most of FP2 working on race pace, the Spaniard stuck in some fresh rubber to set a 2’00.246. This time was less than half a second off Marc Marquez’s 2014 Pole Record (1’59.791) as the riders hit the ground running at Sepang due to the fact all of the teams get to test at the circuit during preseason. Lorenzo’s time was 0.669s faster than his title rival Rossi as he struck an important psychological blow in the epic 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship title fight.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had been quickest out of the blocks in FP1 but found himself 0.047s off the pace of Lorenzo at the end of the day in second overall. The Spaniard will be keen to be involved in the fight for the race win after having missed out on all the fun of the podium battle at Phillip Island.

                  

His teammate Marc Marquez (+0.226s) responded to Rossi’s criticism on Friday by ending the day third fastest overall. The reigning MotoGP™ champion took his 50th GP victory Phillip Island last time out and won last year’s race at Sepang from pole.

                  

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.240s) followed up his podium at Phillip Island by ending the day fourth fastest despite crashing at turn 8 in FP2. Following his crash the Italian immediately went out and set his quickest time of the day, just 0.014s further back from Marquez at the circuit where his GP15 made its debut during the preseason test.

Rossi found himself down in fifth overall after an issue with his first choice bike at the end of FP2 prevented him from setting a flying lap on fresh rubber. Rossi, who has won six times in the premier class at Sepang, failed to improve on his time from the morning session but has shown before that he can recover from a poor Friday to be competitive come the race. The ‘Doctor’ currently leads Lorenzo by 11 points in the standings and has his first chance to lift that elusive tenth title if results go his way on Sunday.

                  

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.793s) carried on his run of good form that has seen him record three top ten finishes in a row to end the day in sixth as the leading Satellite rider. Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro had expected his GSX-RR to struggle at Sepang due to the two long straights and its lack of acceleration, but he finished the day in seventh overall.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) recovered from his worst finish of the season at the Australian GP to finish in 8th, with Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) completing the top ten.

                   

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 11th, while the man who finished in sixth at the Australian GP, Maverick Viñales, was over 1.5s off the pace in 12th. British rider Bradley Smith on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 struggled on the opening day and finished down in 14th.

Irishman Eugene Laverty was 16th, 0.001s ahead of his American teammate Nicky Hayden in 17th, while Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) ended the session in 20th.

Check out the combined results from MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 9:55am local time on Saturday.

Rossi : « Márquez préfère que ce soit Lorenzo qui gagne »/ Rossi: “Marquez would prefer Lorenzo to win”

Après la conférence de presse, Rossi a discuté avec les médias italiens de son commentaire concernant Márquez et Lorenzo.

              

Cliquez ici pour revoir la déclaration de Rossi sur Márquez en conférence de presse et retrouvez ci-dessous ce qu’il a dit par la suite devant les médias italiens :

Pensez-vous que Márquez ait aidé Lorenzo à Phillip Island ?

« Il est vrai que Márquez n’a pas joué avec nous deux. Il n’a joué qu’avec moi ! Il est important qu’il sache que je le sais ! Voyons ce qui va se passer maintenant mais je suis assez préoccupé parce qu’avoir à me battre avec Lorenzo est une chose, mais si je dois aussi me battre avec Márquez, tout devient beaucoup plus difficile et honnêtement, ce qu’il fait n’est pas juste (ce qu’un pilote professionnel doit être dans ces situations). Surtout que Márquez pourrait être très compétitif sur les deux dernières courses. »

« Pour moi c’est une grosse déception, j’étais énervé, ça faisait plusieurs courses que je le savais mais je ne m’attendais pas à ce qu’il fasse quelque chose d’aussi évident. Je suis déçu, je regrette et je suis préoccupé parce qu’il essayera sûrement de le refaire ici et à Valence. »

               

Alors pourquoi a-t-il aussi doublé Lorenzo ?

« Je l’ai noté en course mais je n’ai pas compris : Márquez était un cran au-dessus de tout le monde mais au lieu d’essayer de battre Lorenzo, il est resté avec moi pour se battre avec Iannone et les autres. Il savait que je perdais face à la Ducati sur la ligne droite. Et à chaque fois que je le doublais, il me repassait (très agressivement, mais c’est comme ça). Mais il a ensuite ralenti pour créer un écart avec Jorge. Sa mauvaise chance ce dimanche-là a été que Jorge n’était pas si fort parce qu’autrement ça se serait très vite terminé. Au lieu de ça, il contrôlait l’avance de Jorge, en sachant qu’il pouvait le rattraper en trois tours, puis il essayait de ralentir Iannone et moi, peut-être pour essayer de mettre d’autres pilotes entre moi et Lorenzo. Au final c’est ce qu’il a fait. C’est assez préoccupant mais ça ne m’inquiète pas trop. »

Pourquoi pensez-vous qu’il ait fait ça ?

« Parce qu’il préfère que ce soit Lorenzo qui gagne. Il est fâché contre moi pour une question personnelle. Bien qu’il ne l’ait jamais dit, il pense que je l’ai fait tomber en Argentine et il pense encore à la dernière chicane d’Assen, dans sa tête il pense qu’il aurait dû remporter cette course. Depuis, il est en colère et il raisonne comme un enfant : je ne gagne pas, mais toi non plus. À ce stade-là, le moindre mal pour lui est que Lorenzo gagne. »

                         

Est-ce que c’est quelque chose qui vous motive ou vous fâche ?

« Voyons. S’il est plus rapide mais ralentit pour participer aux autres batailles derrière, ça pourrait devenir compliqué. Parce qu’il n’a rien à perdre, mais moi si. Je dois faire attention. Je suis désolé et assez fâché. Je ne m’attendais pas à ce que Márquez soit un obstacle pour ce Championnat, je pensais seulement me battre contre Jorge, comme ce devrait être le cas. »

Pensiez-vous que ça ne pouvait pas arriver parce qu’il vous idolâtrait ?

« Attention, ici il faut clarifier : m’idolâtrait-il vraiment ? Avait-il vraiment mon poster chez lui ? Je ne suis pas sûr. J’aimerais remonter dans le temps pour vérifier. C’est aussi une question de caractère, il court contre moi : Je veux remporter autant de Championnats du Monde que possible. Si je remporte un autre titre, il sait que ce sera un titre en plus à remporter s’il veut me dépasser. Si c’est Jorge qui gagne, ils restent à peu près au même niveau. »

Était-ce mieux avec Biaggi, parce qu’il était plus clair au sujet de son ressenti ?

« C’est vrai, vous avez raison. Sur le long terme, je préfère son comportement. Nous étions odieux l’un envers l’autre mais au moins c’était clair et honnête. Mais je n’ai pas son numéro de téléphone. »

Tout ça a commencé à Laguna Seca ?

« Il y a eu beaucoup de moments, à Laguna Seca il avait voulu faire ce que j’avais fait à Stoner cinq ans plus tôt, alors qu’il aurait facilement pu me doubler trois virages plus tard. C’était un premier signal. Et je l’avais dit, mais il ne voulait pas le croire. »

Pour faire une comparaison littéraire, puisque nous sommes en Malaisie, avez-vous l’impression d’être Sandokan contre Yanez ?

« Je ne sais pas. Je ne pense pas qu’il y ait cette différence entre moi et Lorenzo. Je pense que nous sommes tous les deux valeureux, chacun à sa manière, mais aussi assez malins. »

Cliquez ici pour revoir la conférence de presse du GP de Malaisie dans son intégralité.

                 

After the Malaysian GP Pre-Event Press Conference Rossi spoke to the Italian media about his comments on Marquez helping out Lorenzo.

Click here to watch Rossi’s comments on Marquez from the Press Conference, and below is what he said to the assembled Italian media afterwards:

Do you think that Marquez helped out Lorenzo at Phillip Island?
“It is indeed true that Marquez did not play with both of us: he only played with me! It is important that he knows that I know! Now let's see what happens, but I am quite concerned because to have to fight with Lorenzo is one thing, but if you have to beat Marquez as well, everything becomes much more difficult, to be honest - the case is that he isn’t playing fair (something that a professional rider has to do in these situations). Especially because Marquez could be very competitive in the last two races.”

“For me it was a big disappointment, I was upset, it was from a few races ago that I knew, but I did not expect him to do something so obvious. I feel disappointment, regret and worry, because surely he will try to do it here and also in Valencia.”

                

So why did he eventually also overtake Lorenzo?
“In the race I noticed it, but I did not understand; Marquez was a step above everyone, but instead of trying to try to battle Lorenzo, he stayed with me to fight with Iannone and others. He knew that I was losing out to the Ducati on the straight. And so every time I tried to pass him, he re-overtook me (super-aggressive, but thats the way it is). But then he slowed to create a gap to Jorge. His bad luck was that on Sunday Jorge was not so strong, because otherwise it would have been over already. Instead, he always kept Jorge in check, knowing that he could catch him within 3 laps, and then tried to slow me and Iannone, perhaps trying to put other riders between me and Lorenzo. And in the end, that's what he did. It is clearly quite worrying, but it doesn't worry me too much”

Why do you think he did this?
“Because he would prefer Lorenzo to win. He is angry at me for a personal matter. Although he never said it, he thinks that in Argentina I made him crash; and then at Assen he is still thinking about the last chicane, in his head he feels he should have won that race. Since then he has been angry and thinking like a child: I do not win, but you do not win either. At this point, the lesser evil is for him is for Lorenzo to win.”

Is it something that motivates you or makes you angry?
"Let's see. Because if he's faster yet slows down to get involved in the battles further back, it could become difficult. Because he has nothing to lose, but I do. I have to be wary. I'm sorry and I'm quite angry. I did not expect that Marquez was an obstacle for this Championship, I thought I was only fighting against Jorge, as it should be.”

Because he used to idolise you, did you think this wouldn't happen?
"Watch out, here we must make a clarification: did he really idolise me? Did he really have my poster at home? I'm not so sure. I'd like to go back in time and see. It will also be a question of character, he is competing with me: I want to win as many World Championships as I can. If I win another title, then he knows that he will have to win one more to overtake me. If instead Jorge wins, then they have more or less the same.”

Was it better with Biaggi, because he at least made his feelings clear?
"It's true you are right. In the long run, I prefer more his behaviour. We were obnoxious to each other, but at least it was clear and honest. But I do not have his phone number.”

Did this all begin in Laguna Seca?
“There have been lots of moments, at Laguna Seca he wanted to do what I had done to Stoner five years before, when he could easily have passed three corners later. It was the first signal. And I said so, but I did not want to believe it. To think evil, it takes forever.”

Wanting to make a literary comparison, since we are in Malaysia, do you feel like Sandokan fighting Yanez?
"I would not know. I do not think that there is this difference between me and Lorenzo. I think we're both brave, each in his own way, and also a bit cunning."

Click here to watch the Malaysian GP Press Conference in full.

                       

Márquez remporte la course de l’année à Phillip Island / Marquez's 50th victory sets title race alight

Le Champion en titre a battu Lorenzo dans le dernier tour tandis que Iannone a devancé Rossi pour la troisième place.

           

Disqualifié en 2013 puis tombé alors qu’il était premier en 2014, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a remporté pour la première fois l’épreuve MotoGP™ de Phillip Island dimanche au Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie à l’issue d’une course sensationnelle aux avant-postes. 

En pole position, Márquez a été devancé par Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) dès le départ mais a rapidement pris le dessus sur son coéquipier pour revenir sur les deux autres. 

Iannone et Lorenzo se sont fermement disputés la première position dès le premier tour dans un duel qui a tourné en faveur du Majorquin lorsque Iannone a heurté du casque une mouette qui stationnait sur sa trajectoire. L’Italien et Márquez n’ont cependant pas laissé Lorenzo s’échapper et ont tous les deux eu l’occasion de repasser devant sur les premiers tours pendant que Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), septième sur la grille, s’efforçait de revenir sur le trio de tête. 

                   

Lorsque l’Italien est parvenu à recoller au groupe, Lorenzo disposait d’un peu plus d’une seconde d’avance, un écart qu’il n’a pu maintenir que pour une dizaine de tours, jusqu’à être rattrapé par Márquez dans le 16e des 27e tours de l’épreuve. À ce moment-là, Rossi et Iannone avaient une seconde de retard sur Márquez, qui passait en tête pour la première fois de la course mais voyait Lorenzo et les deux Italiens revenir derrière lui à toute vitesse. 

Le dernier tiers de la course a ainsi été l’occasion d’une splendide bataille à quatre, que Lorenzo semblait avoir remportée après avoir doublé Márquez à six tours de l’arrivée. Le Champion du Monde en titre a cependant réalisé un incroyable dernier tour qui lui a valu une opportunité de repasser en tête, qu’il a parfaitement saisie, mais aussi le meilleur tour de la course et une splendide victoire, sa cinquième de l’année et la 50e de sa carrière en Grand Prix.

               

Derrière les deux Espagnols, Iannone, qui avait momentanément réussi à passer Márquez à quelques tours de l’arrivée, s’est brillamment imposé sur Rossi pour prendre la troisième place et s’offrir son troisième podium de la saison. Deuxième en qualifications en ayant suivi de près Lorenzo, l’Italien tenait sa promesse de se racheter et retournait la faveur au Majorquin en privant Rossi du podium, permettant à Lorenzo de marquer sept points de plus que son coéquipier. 

Avant l’épreuve de Sepang qui aura lieu le 25 octobre et celle de Valence qui aura lieu le 8 novembre, Rossi et Lorenzo n'ont plus que onze points d’écart en tête du classement général.

                 

Derrière les quatre protagonistes de ce qui est pour l’instant la plus belle course de l’année tant pour son spectacle et ses dépassements que pour son enjeu, Pedrosa était trop loin derrière pour observer la bataille et a terminé à quatre secondes de Rossi, en cinquième position.

                

Sixième sur la grille, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a égalé son meilleur résultat en date, sa sixième place de Barcelone, en confirmant ses excellentes performances et en finissant par battre Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), qui s’était brièvement battu avec Rossi sur les premiers tours.

                 

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a pris la huitième place, à neuf secondes de Crutchlow, devant son frère Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

                  

Bien loin des excellentes performances de son coéquipier, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) a conclu en treizième position, à six secondes de Petrucci, devant Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) et Jack Miller (LCR Honda), qui s’offrait le point de la quinzième place mais aussi la première place du groupe Open pour sa course nationale en finissant loin devant Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing), 18e tandis que Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) finissait son 200e Grand Prix à la vingtième place. 

                 

Le paddock MotoGP™ prend maintenant la direction du Circuit International de Sepang, où se déroulera la semaine prochaine l’avant-dernière manche de la saison 2015. 

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats et ici pour le classement général.

                

Marc Marquez wins one of the most dramatic MotoGP™ races of all time as Lorenzo reduces Rossi's lead in the standings to just 11 points.

             

Repsol Honda’s Marquez emerged triumphant from an incredible Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to record his 50th career GP victory and fifth of 2015. Marquez secured the race win in the end by just 0.249s from Jorge Lorenzo, with Andrea Iannone completing the podium ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi who had to settle for fourth.

The 32,000 fans packed into the grandstands bore witness to one of the most exciting races in the history of the World Championship as Marquez was involved in a race-long scrap with Movistar Yamaha teammates and title rivals Lorenzo and Rossi, plus the Ducati GP15 of Iannone. The battle between these four was simply breath-taking, as for once the weather did not throw a spanner in the works with the sun shining and track temperatures reaching 40˚C. It really did have everything: a myriad of overtakes, lots of contact, a championship title on the line, and even a bird strike.

               

At the start it was Iannone who got the drive off the line to lead into turn 1 with Lorenzo and Marquez in hot pursuit. Lorenzo would take the lead into turn 8, and in a sign of things to come there was contact between Marquez and his teammate Dani Pedrosa at turn 10 as the former defended 3rd. Iannone re-took the lead on lap 2, only to be hit by a stray seagull on the entrance to turn 4 to allow Lorenzo to move back to the front.

               

The lead swapped hands a number of times between these three on the opening laps. All the while Rossi, who had started from seventh on the grid, had been biding his time, before starting to move through the pack by lap 3. The ‘Doctor’ overtook the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow to move up to fourth on lap 4 and join in the fun at the front.

              

Lorenzo began to break away at the front, and by the end of lap 7 he had opened up a 1.4s gap, but just when it looked like he would disappear into the distance the chasing trio started to close. Unbelievably, despite constantly swapping places, the three started to reel in Lorenzo at the front. At the end of lap 13, Lorenzo’s lead was down to a second. At the end of lap 14 it was 0.5s, and fans were in for a treat as Marquez, Iannone and Rossi caught Lorenzo at the front with 10 laps to go.

From here on in it was anyone’s guess who would win, with Iannone using the incredible power of his GP15 to show some blistering pace on the straight. This meant each time once of the others passed the Italian; he was able wait until the Gardner straight to launch his Bologna missile back past.

               

Lorenzo took the lead with 7 laps to go once more, and with just two laps to go had extended this lead to one second as the others fought against each other. The best was still to come though. As the riders entered the final lap less than second separated all four, as Lorenzo led across the line from Iannone with Marquez in third and Rossi fourth.

Marquez passed Iannone in the Southern Loop to move into second and set off after Lorenzo. Rossi also came past his compatriot after contact at turn 4, before Iannone fought back into 3rd through Lukey Heights. Then at turn 10 Marquez blitzed past Lorenzo into the lead, as Rossi tried desperately to pass Iannone for the final time but failed. Marquez then managed to hold on through the final few corners to secure an amazing victory as the crowd went wild. Marquez had saved his best till last, putting in the fastest lap of the race on the final lap as he timed his move to perfection. It seemed a fitting way for the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion to break his MotoGP™ points duck at Phillip Island, as he became the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 GP wins.

Lorenzo took second, his tenth podium of the year, to close the gap in the standings to Rossi to just 11 points with two races remaining. Iannone completed the podium, his third of the year and first since Mugello, while Rossi’s fourth was only the second time he has missed out on the podium this season. To give you an idea of how close it was, just a second separated the four across the line. It was also Rossi’s 328th grand prix, which moves him level with Loris Capirossi at the top of the list of riders with the most World Championships starts.

Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa came out on top in the battle for fifth as he crossed the line 5 seconds behind Rossi. The winner at Motegi had enjoyed an excellent race long fight with Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, who finished in sixth and seventh respectively. Sixth equalled Viñales best MotoGP™ result from the Catalan GP as he once more impressed in what is only the Spaniard's rookie season.

              

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) won the battle of the brothers as he beat Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) to 8th. Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith completed the top ten, finishing less than a second ahead of his compatriot Scott Redding on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda in eleventh.

LCR Honda’s Jack Miller took the Open class victory at his home grand prix by finishing in fifteenth, while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) crossed the line in 19th after announcing he will be staying with his team for 2016. Laverty’s teammate Nicky Hayden was forced to retire with a technical issue and Damien Cudlin (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), who was substituting for the injured Alex De Angelis, also had to return to the pits with an issue.

                

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results and the latest championship standings.

Márquez signe sa huitième pole de l’année en Australie / Sensational Marquez takes 8th pole position of 2015

Le Champion en titre partira devant Andrea Iannone et Jorge Lorenzo dimanche à Phillip Island pour le Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie.

          

Pilote le plus rapide sur l’ensemble des essais libres, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a confirmé sa supériorité en qualifications samedi après-midi à Phillip Island et s’est offert sa huitième pole position de la saison avec un chrono de 1’28.364, soit une demi-seconde de plus que le record du circuit, qu’avait enregistré Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) en 2013.

             

Ce dernier, qui a dix-huit points de retard à rattraper sur son coéquipier Valentino Rossi pour espérer être Champion du Monde cette année, sera troisième sur la grille de départ après avoir été suivi par Andrea Iannone (Ducati) sur ses tours lancés. L’Italien avait réussi à être plus rapide que l’Espagnol de quelques dixièmes au début et a ensuite réalisé le même chrono que le Majorquin sur son dernier run, remportant cependant la seconde position pour avoir un second meilleur tour plus rapide que celui du pilote Yamaha. Les deux pilotes étaient au final à 0.316s de Márquez. 

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) a de son côté tardé à s’assurer un départ en tête de la seconde ligne et n’était vraiment pas loin de la première (+0.032s). Il retrouvera en seconde ligne Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), cinquième à plus d’une demi-seconde de la pole, et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui poursuit son excellent week-end après avoir fini le vendredi dans le Top 3. 

                

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) n’a de son côté pas réussi son dernier tour lancé et a échoué en septième position, à plus de trois dixièmes de seconde de son coéquipier et rival, Lorenzo. Le leader du Championnat du Monde MotoGP™ partagera la troisième ligne avec Aleix et Pol Espargaró, qui avaient respectivement signé les deux meilleurs temps de la Q1 avec le Team Suzuki Ecstar et Monster Yamaha Tech3. 

                 

Lourdement tombé en FP4, Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) partira au bout de la quatrième ligne, derrière Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing).

                 

Quatorzième, Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) sera le premier pilote Open sur la grille, devant le rookie australien Jack Miller (LCR Honda), tandis que les Français Loris Baz (Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing), qui se prépare pour son 200e Grand Prix, partiront respectivement 19e et 22e.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

             

Marc Marquez claims his 30th MotoGP™ pole position by over three-tenths from Iannone and Lorenzo, with Rossi starting from seventh.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole position at the Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with an incredible display of riding. In near perfect conditions (Track temp. 42˚C) at Phillip Island the Spaniard set a 1’28.364 to clearly show his rivals he is back to full fitness after breaking a bone in his left hand before the Japanese GP.

               

No one had an answer to the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion's one-lap pace, despite it being almost half a second slower than Jorge Lorenzo’s 2013 Pole Record (1’27.899). Marquez, after finishing second in FP1 on Friday, has topped every session since and his race pace looks ominous at the only track on the MotoGP™ calendar where he has not scored a point in the premier class. He led the way from the very first lap in Q2 and was never knocked off the top, improving his time on his third run as he made use of a two-stop strategy.

                

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.316s) also made use of a two-stop strategy and the extra soft option tyre available to him to record only his third front row start of the season. The Italian set an identical time to Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo, but will start from second due to count back.

Lorenzo (+0.316s) completes the front row in third, making it 13 front row starts this year. It is actually his worst qualifying performance since his 8th in Assen as Lorenzo also made use of a two-stop strategy. However the two-time MotoGP™ champion will take heart from the fact the man who is leading him in the title standings by 18 points, Valentino Rossi, will be forced to start from seventh.

Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa (+0.348s) looked like he would be on the front row as the clock ticked down in Q2, but will instead have to start from the front of the second row in fourth. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.548s) followed up his excellent third place overall in practice with fifth, his best Qualifying result since he started the Indianapolis GP from fourth and it sees him as the leading Satellite rider.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales (+0.568s) continued his excellent weekend and will start from sixth, just 0.02s behind Crutchlow. It was his best Qualifying performance since his 2nd at the Catalan GP as the Spaniard made use of the sweet handling of his GSX-RR around the fast and flowing Phillip Island circuit.

                 

Championship leader Valentino Rossi’s recent good run in qualifying came to an end as he put on his worst performance since he claimed 8th at Indianapolis. The ‘Doctor’ improved his time from Practice by over seven-tenths, but it was only good enough for seventh and sees the Doctor start the race from the head of the third row.

               

Viñales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro will start the race from eighth after making it through from Q1 alongside his brother Pol, who qualified in ninth.

               

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was tenth fastest, with Brits Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completing the fourth row, despite the latter becoming the only rider to crash so far throughout the weekend in FP4.

              

Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) will start from 14th as the leading Open class rider ahead of local hero Jack Miller in 15th (LCR Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 16th. Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) celebrated the announcement he will be inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame at Valencia by qualifying in 20th.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results; the 27-lap race starts at 16:00 local time on Sunday.

              

Márquez réalise le meilleur temps du vendredi en Australie / Marquez sets pace on opening day at Phillip Island

Le Champion du Monde en titre est passé devant Lorenzo lors de la seconde d’essais à Phillip Island.

          

Bien que la pluie se soit manifestée à la mi-journée, les pilotes de la catégorie reine auront échappé aux intempéries vendredi à Phillip Island pour l’ouverture du Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie. 

Après avoir été distancé par Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) de plus de trois dixièmes de seconde le matin, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a rattrapé son compatriote l’après-midi et s’est emparé de la première position sur le classement combiné, en ayant été 0.050s plus rapide que le Majorquin. Désormais sans aucune possibilité de jouer le titre, le Champion du Monde visera ce week-end sa première victoire en MotoGP™ à Phillip Island, qui est avec le Motegi l’un des deux seuls circuits où il n’ait pas encore gagné en catégorie reine.

                    

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a fait très bonne impression sur la GSX-R pour rejoindre ses deux compatriotes dans le Top 3, à seulement 0.135s de Márquez. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) ont réalisé des chronos très proches de celui du rookie espagnol et ont terminé quatrième et cinquième, à 0.161s et 0.196s du leader.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), vainqueur dimanche dernier au Motegi, s’est classé sixième, à quasiment trois dixièmes de seconde de la cinquième position et devant Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). 

                

Neuvième à 0.658s de Márquez, Rossi dispose de dix-huit points d’avance avant l’épreuve australienne, la première des trois dernières de la saison, et devra gagner en rythme samedi matin pour espérer se qualifier bien plus près de Lorenzo, son rival pour le titre mondial. À noter toutefois que l'Italien n'a pas utilisé de pneu neuf en fin de séance, contrairement à bon nombre de ses concurrents.

               

La dixième position est revenue à Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) tandis que Jack Miller (LCR Honda), onzième, a été le pilote Open le plus rapide et a été confirmé chez Marc VDS Racing pour 2016 avant l’ouverture du week-end. 

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing), qui participe à son 200e Grand Prix ce week-end, et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont respectivement pris les 20e et 23e positions. 

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Marc Marquez ended Friday’s practice fastest ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Maverick Viñales, with Valentino Rossi in ninth.

Repsol Honda’s Marquez had played second fiddle to Lorenzo in the morning’s damp FP1 session at the Pramac Australian Grand Prix. Then, as the track dried and the sun came out (Track temp. 35˚C) in the afternoon it was the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion who ended the day on top. Marquez set a 1’29.383 to finish just five-hundredths of a second ahead of Lorenzo on the combined timesheet’s, although he was still some way off the Pole Record set in 2014 (J. Lorenzo – 1’27.899).

              

Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo (+0.050s) began his bid at closing down the 18-point gap in the standings to his teammate Rossi by topping FP1, before having to settle for second overall. The Spaniard improved by over half a second in FP2, in a session that saw the top 13 riders separated by less than nine-tenths of a second.

               

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales recovered from crashing out of the race at Motegi to complete the provisional front row, just 0.135s off the pace of Marquez. Viñales took advantage of the sweet handling of his GSX-RR to finish ahead of Andrea Iannone (+0.161s) on the Ducati Team GP15. The Italian is looking to bounce back strongly at Phillip Island after his first DNF of the season at the Japanese GP due to technical issues.

                

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.196s) was the leading Satellite rider in fifth as less than two tenths of second separated the top five riders. Brit Crutchlow clearly likes the Australian track as he recorded only his second MotoGP™ podium at Phillip Island in 2012 and crashed out of a comfortable second in last year’s race on the very last lap. 

Race winner at Motegi Dani Pedrosa (+0.493s) was further 0.297s back in sixth, ahead of Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Bradley Smith in eighth.

                  

Championship leader Rossi found himself down in ninth, 0.658s off the pace of Marquez, but the ‘Doctor’ did not switch to a fresh set of tyres at the end of FP2 like the majority of the riders. The Italian, who will equal the all-time record of 328 GP starts on Sunday, preferring instead to work on his pace on used tyres, instead of worrying about setting a flying lap.

              

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed the top ten while Jack Miller (LCR Honda), who had earlier finished fifth during FP1, was the leading Open class rider in eleventh, just 0.057s ahead of Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 12th. Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso struggled throughout the day, and found himself down in 14th, over a second off the pace of Pole man Marquez. Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) ended the day in 17th, ahead of Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 18th.

               

Karel Abraham’s replacement in the AB Motoracing Team, Anthony West, was 24th fastest. Damian Cudlin (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), who is substituting for the injured Alex De Angelis, was in 25th.

Check out the combined times from FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 10:00 local time on Saturday in Phillip Island.