Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took a stunning pole position at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, as the Spaniard was over a second clear for much of the latter half of the session before P2 man Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) cut the gap down to seven tenths. Marquez checked track conditions on his first lap out and then decided it was time to gamble on slicks, coming back in to switch and then proved right as he set a searing set of red laptimes to seal his 65th career pole position.
Marc Marquez (P1): “This weekend has been really tricky with the weather – because you need to be fast of course, but you also need the correct strategy. It was difficult because the setup wasn’t perfect and I couldn’t do a perfect lap. The forecast said heavy rain in ten minutes and everyone went out and was pushing – then I saw the track was dry, and I went back in to get the correct tyres. I lost a few minutes but it was worth it. I was worried someone else would go in and have newer tyres, but in the end it was enough.
“We’ll see tomorrow if it will be flag-to-flag or dry, because the weather is incredible. When we came here in the pre-season the rain was like this. It gets dry really quick, so it’s something to understand for tomorrow.”