Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Márquez has admitted that he did not expect to secure pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.

Márquez claimed his fifth successive pole in Spain following a last gasp effort in which he edged out compatriot Jorge Lorenzo by 0.421s, after the Yamaha rider had spent much of the 15 minute session on top of the times.

“I am very happy with this pole position, as it was hard fought and I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “We are suffering a little more here than at other tracks, but despite this we are still at the same level as Lorenzo and Dani [Pedrosa]. We changed our strategy at the last minute; I asked [Crew Chief] Santi [Hernandez] if it would be possible to use three soft tyres, and he said that it was.

“It was all last minute and I am satisfied with how it worked out, but we know that tomorrow is the important day. Jorge and, above all, Dani have a great pace.”

Pedrosa was third quickest and will complete the front row of the grid at Jerez.

“We took a step forward with the bike setup today and also went better with the race tyres,” he said. “In the qualifying session we tried to do as well as possible, but it is always difficult to put in a really fast lap. Tomorrow we will try to get a good start, then have a good race.”