News 18 Oct 2014

Qualifying shuffle sets up spectacular Phillip Island battle

Marquez and Lorenzo expecting Rossi to rise come race day.

Source: AGPC.

Source: AGPC.

World champion Marc Marquez is anticipating a battle royale in Sunday’s Tissot Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, certain that Yamaha factory duo and fellow former title winners Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will vie for victory.

Spectacular Spaniard Marquez, 21, slotted his factory Repsol Honda on pole with a benchmark of 1m28.408, clawing his way back into contention after experiencing a frustrating Friday at Phillip Island.

That result matches Casey Stoner for the record of 12 pole positions in a single season, but come race time tomorrow afternoon Marquez is expecting an all-out battle for the race win – desperate to recover from a disastrous Australian race one year ago.

“Today I felt pretty good and that’s important, because we found it hard yesterday and I was a bit too far off the pace,” Marquez commented. “We improved a lot today and were riding more comfortably. We expect a hard-fought race tomorrow, but I just have to enjoy it.

“Above all, it will be difficult to stop both Jorge and Valentino, who seem to have the fastest race pace. My focus and ambition are the same as ever and we will try to be at the front, but also over the weekend we have been trying different things out with next season in mind.”

Dual world champion Lorenzo, coming off two consecutive wins and last year’s Phillip Island victory, is expecting a hard-fought race from third on the grid with his fastest of 1m28.650, aiming to track down Marquez while having to fend off Rossi coming from row three.

“I’m pleased because it’s always good to be on the front row,” Lorenzo explained. “Obviously I wanted to take pole position, but my lap was not fast enough. Being on the first row is always positive and to have Rossi and [Dani] Pedrosa in second and third row is really good.

“During Q1 I was a little bit nervous because from the garage I saw spits of rain on the track and we don’t like to ride in those conditions, but we were lucky. The rain stopped before Q2 and we could ride a normal session and push at the maximum.

“There are still some corners in which I’m not quite satisfied with the set up of the bike. We will try to modify some things for the warm-up tomorrow.”

Rossi wound up a lowly eighth down on the third row with a 1m28.956, but remains in contention for Sunday after displaying encouraging race pace throughout the weekend so far.

“We made some mistakes during qualifying,” the nine-time world champion said. “I was quite strong on the first tyre although we knew we had to improve to start at the front, but unfortunately when we modified the bike I was a little more in trouble under braking. Because of this I also made a mistake in section three while riding on the second tyre.

“I was not able to improve so I have to start from the third row. Tomorrow it is going to be difficult, because a lot of riders are in front of me. Everybody is very fast so it will be hard and it will be very important that I make a good start and have a good first lap.

“I have a good pace and the race is long, so we have to give the maximum. For me the rear tyre is not so bad. I think it can last the whole race. For the front we still have to decide. It will depend on tomorrow’s conditions.”

Joining Marquez and Lorenzo on the front row will be surprise Brit Cal Crutchlow, slotting his dated Ducati into second in one of his finer showings of the season.

Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa also improved in the qualifying sessions, climbing to fifth on the grid after sitting in 11th after FP3 and going through the dreaded Q2 procedure.

The 2014 Tissot Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix will get underway tomorrow at 4:00pm AEDT, televised live on TEN and SPEED nationally.

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