Honda’s Marc Marquez will start the Argentinian MotoGP Grand Prix from pole position, despite crashing at the end of qualifying.
Setting up a tantalising prospect for Sunday’s second race of the season, Marquez will be joined on the front row of the grid by Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez set his eventual pole lap, a 1m39.411s, early in the 15-minute session.
At the time, it was 1.163 seconds clear of the pack, led by Lorenzo, before Ducati’s Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso reduced the margin slightly.
Halfway through the session, Rossi made serious inroads with a lap of 1m39.988s to cut the gap to 0.577s.
With 60 seconds remaining, Marquez crashed at Turn 1 for the second time on Saturday, having lost the front end of his Honda mid-corner.
Both Yamaha riders improved after the chequered flag, with Lorenzo – who also crashed heavily at Turn 1 in the preceding practice session – jumping up to second momentarily before Rossi recorded his 1m39.786s.
It means Rossi ended qualifying as Marquez’s closest challenger, 0.375s behind.
Dani Pedrosa will start fourth, sharing the second row of the grid with Dovizioso and Iannone, while Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales took seventh, ahead of the lead satellite rider, Avintia Ducati’s Hector Barbera.
LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow was another to crash at Turn 1 but was able to rejoin the session and finish ninth.
Tech3 Yamaha pair Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro advanced from Q1, and Smith also crashed at Turn 1, winding up 12th, two spots behind his team-mate.
Having shone on Friday before missing out on an automatic Q2 position by just 0.044s to Rossi, Jack Miller was never far from the action in Q1.
Fastest early, he crashed at Turn 1 and after getting back to the pitlane and onto his second bike, was on a lap projected as being good enough for a Q2 spot, before crashing again at Turn 12.
Having been at the centre of the tyre problem in the fourth practice session, Scott Redding was fourth in the first phase of qualifying and will start 14th, while Yonny Hernandez was sidelined by an apparent mechanical problem and will start last.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m39.411s | – |
| 2 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m39.786s | 0.375s |
| 3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m39.944s | 0.533s |
| 4 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m40.011s | 0.600s |
| 5 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.198s | 0.787s |
| 6 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.272s | 0.861s |
| 7 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m40.375s | 0.964s |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.524s | 1.113s |
| 9 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m40.528s | 1.117s |
| 10 | Pol Espargaro | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m40.654s | 1.243s |
| 11 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m40.708s | 1.297s |
| 12 | Bradley Smith | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m40.893s | 1.482s |
| 13 | Loris Baz | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.744s | – |
| 14 | Scott Redding | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.750s | – |
| 15 | Jack Miller | Marc VDS Honda | Honda | 1m40.881s | – |
| 16 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m40.897s | – |
| 17 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m40.990s | – |
| 18 | Michele Pirro | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m41.116s | – |
| 19 | Tito Rabat | Marc VDS Honda | Honda | 1m41.157s | – |
| 20 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m41.611s | – |
| 21 | Yonny Hernandez | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m41.692s | – |
