Saturday, March 22, 2014

Repsol Honda's Marquez Takes Pole, Pedrosa 6th in Qatar MotoGP Season-Opener Qualifying














































Press Release www.repsolhondateam.com

Grand Prix of Qatar

Round 1 - Saturday, March 22nd 2014

  Qatar - Qualifying Report

Weather conditions
Windy 21°C
Air temp
18°C
Track temp
50%
Humidity
Marquez takes Qatar pole with Pedrosa in 6th

Marquez takes Qatar pole with Pedrosa in 6th

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has secured the first pole of the season at the Losail circuit in Qatar with a time of 1’54.507, marking his 10th MotoGP career pole, from 19 starts in the class. Teammate Dani Pedrosa, despite being just 0.196s from Marc with 1’54.703, will start from the second row in 6th position.
It was an exciting session with fastest times being traded between several riders. Marc, who is still suffering from the injury that sidelined him from the last two Winter tests, took provisional pole on his first exit in Q2 before securing it with a faster time on his final lap of his second exit. He’s now found a setup he is happy with and will work on fine tuning it in tomorrow’s warmup session.
Dani was also happy with his pace after making positive setup changes in FP4 and will be looking for one of his trademark starts in tomorrow’s 22 lap race, that will begin at 22h00 local time.
Team Quotes
Marc Marquez profile image
Marc Marquez
1st - 1'54.507
“I’m really happy and this pole position is a special one for me, because after coming back from injury it gives me a boost in confidence. In any case, we know that tomorrow is the day that counts and it’s in the race that points are decided, so we have to be very focused. It is going to be a very tough for me physically, because I don't have much strength in my leg and I have to compensate with my right arm. We are happy with how today went and seem to have found a good setup, with just a few details still to refine in tomorrow's warmup. It will be difficult, because many riders have pace within a tenth of each other, but we shall try to have a good race”
Dani Pedrosa profile image
Dani Pedrosa
6th - 1'54.703
"The qualifying session was really closely contested today - especially in the final laps. Looking at things objectively, we have a good pace and were able to set a fast lap in the session, even though in the end we qualified sixth by a really narrow margin. We're going to continue to be positive about things, believe in the work that we have been doing here so far this weekend, and tomorrow we'll give everything that we have to do well at the first race of the season"

qualifying results

  Grand Prix of Qatar - Round 1
Pos.RiderNum.NationTeamConstructorTime/Gap
1Marc Marquez93ESPRepsol Honda TeamHONDA1'54.507
2Alvaro Bautista19ESPGo & Fun Honda GresiniHONDA1'54.564
3Bradley Smith38GBRMonster Yamaha Tech 3YAMAHA1'54.601
4Andrea Dovizioso4ITADucati TeamDUCATI1'54.644
5Jorge Lorenzo99ESPYamaha Factory RacingYAMAHA1'54.661
6Dani Pedrosa26ESPRepsol Honda TeamHONDA1'54.703
7Stefan Bradl6GERLCR Honda MotoGPHONDA1'54.871
8Cal Crutchlow35GBRDucati TeamDUCATI1'54.888
9Aleix Espargaro41ESPNGM Mobile Forward RacingYAMAHA1'54.986
10Valentino Rossi46ITAYamaha FactoryYAMAHA1'55.096
11Andrea Iannone29ITAPramac RacingDUCATI1'55.127
12Pol Espargaro44ESPMonster Yamaha Tech 3YAMAHA1'55.152
13Nicky Hayden69USADrive M7 AsparHONDA1'55.894
14Colin Edwards5USANGM Mobile Forward RacingYAMAHA1'56.042
15Hiroshi Aoyama7JPNDrive M7 AsparHONDA1'56.479
16Scott Redding45GBRGo & Fun Honda GresiniHONDA1'56.555
17Yonny Hernandez68COLPramac RacingDUCATI1'56.648
18Karel Abraham17CZECardion AB MotoracingHONDA1'56.715
19Hector Barbera8ESPAvintia Racing MotoGPFTR-KAWASAKI1'57.006
20Danilo Petrucci9ITAIodaRacing ProjectIODA-SUTER1'57.513
21Broc Parkes23AUSPaul Bird MotorsportPBM1'57.574
22Mike Di Meglio63FRAAvintia Racing MotoGPFTR-KAWASAKI1'57.667
23Michael Laverty70GBRPaul Bird MotorsportART & PBM1'58.254

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Circuit Information

View circuit page at www.repsolhondateam.com
Length5.380 m / 3.343 miles
Width12m
Left corners6
Right corners10
Longest straight1.068 m / 0.664 miles
Constructed2004
Modified
  
Losail International Circuit
Al Wusail,North Relief Road
Doha, Qatar

T: +974 4472 9151
F: +974 4472 9246
 
www.circuitlosail.com
 
Pole Position1m 53.927s (170.003km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008)
Race Lap1m 55.153s (168.193km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race Time42m 36.587s (166.665km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
2012 WinnerJorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
2013 WinnerJorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
If you have any questions please email press@hondaracing.co.jp
  Honda Racing Corporation
3-15-1, Senzui, Asaka-shi, Saitama-Pref., 351-0024 Japan
 

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