Márquez powers to fourth pole of the season

Marc Márquez will go for his third straight victory from pole position in the 125cc TIM TT Assen on Saturday after setting a scorching pace in qualifying. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider’s lap of 1’42.191 was well clear of second placed Bradley Smith, who in second place was 0.584s further back.

Márquez took the lead spot on the timesheet with eight minutes to go, setting the fastest lap of the weekend, but unsatisfied with that he then shaved further time off his own effort to send a resounding message to the rest of the field. Bancaja Aspar rider Smith’s 20th and final lap of the session delivered him second spot.

Joining the duo on the front row will be Smith’s team-mate Nico Terol and Championship leader Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) for what promises to be another thrilling and closely fought eighth-litre contest.

The second row will be fronted by Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), with Dutch rider Jasper Iwema (CBC Corse) having surpassed his best ever previous qualification of 11th to take sixth spot on the grid for his home GP. Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) and Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) also set top-eight times.

Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) qualified in 11th, and his team-mate Alberto Moncayo placed ninth and then had a crash at the end of qualifying. Also experiencing a fall as the session came to a close was Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), who had already set the 12th best time – both riders appeared to escape injury.

The 125cc race starts at 11am local time on Saturday morning.