Having ended Friday down in ninth place, Saturday saw a distinct turn around in the performance of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). Due to the events of Friday the layout in sector four of the track was changed significantly, now much tighter than the previous version. This seems to be suiting the Hondas more so than any other bike, Marquez setting the pace in FP4 after concluding FP3 in second. During Free Practice 3 Marquez suffered a strange crash at Turn 2 on his outlap due to a cold tyre on his first bike. His speed carried over and Marquez immediately attacked in Q2, becoming the first rider to set a 1’43 around the new layout. He would improve his time further to a 1’43.589 and romp to pole position by 0.467s. For the third time in 2016 Marquez will start from pole, his two previous launches from the front in Argentina and Austin converting nicely to victory. Marquez has not won at a Spanish track since he took victory at the 2014 Valencia GP.
Marc Marquez: “We've worked well, and this morning we had a good feeling, but that fact was covered up because my crash was on the bike that I liked more. I felt very comfortable in FP4, with a good pace when using race tyres. We did a very good job and everything together meant that things worked out well. I’m very happy with the pole position, but we’re already thinking about the race. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I want to dedicate this pole to my grandmother who passed away two weeks ago and to Luis Salom.”