Source: MotoGP

Defending MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has rebounded from a slow start to his Qatar campaign to claim pole position for the first grand prix of the season.

The Spanish rider’s pre-season plans were thrown into turmoil when he broke his leg, with Thursday’s free practice under the lights of Losail the first real test of fitness.

He has made steady progression over the sessions and showed he has lost none of his customary speed or grit as he climbed up and over fellow Honda rider, Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, to take pole with a 1m54.507 lap.

Bautista ended qualifying just 0.057 seconds off Marquez’ pace, verifying his earlier form. Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith claimed a career-best third on the grid, less than a tenth of a second off the pole time.

Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso built upon earlier performances to qualify the ‘Open Factory’ Ducati a commendable fourth, heading off the second row.

Fifth and sixth places for Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa can be considered an improvement, with the Movistar Yamaha and Repsol Honda riders making up some lost ground in the crucial stages.

LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl will start seventh, with Cal Crutchlow to make his first grand prix start with Ducati in an encouraging eighth.

The hard-luck story of the session was NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro, whose momentum from earlier free practice was halted with two significant crashes.

After dominating free practice, Espargaro’s pace had him a realistic chance at snaring a sensational pole for the Open class. He will start ninth, still less than half a second off the pole time.

Completing the top 10 is the second factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi, who has also lacked consistency in the lead up stages of the Qatar event.

Another encouraging showing from Aussie rider Broc Parkes saw him qualify 21st, outpacing teammate Michael Laverty by over six-tenths of a second.

Incoming Marc VDS Racing Team rider Esteve Rabat registered a 2m00.81-second lap to claim pole in the Moto2 ranks, displacing Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese by just 0.020 seconds.

Cortese’s early lap stood despite his involvement in a crash with the bikes of Jordi Torres and Mika Kallio, which resulted in a red flag stoppage.

IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami qualified third, with Thom Luthi fourth ahead of an impressive Sam Lowes, fifth on his first-ever showing in grand prix racing.

A congested 35-rider field made clear track space difficult to find for many, with Australia’s Ant West one to show solid speed yet unable to convert.

The QMMF Racing Team rider will start tomorrow’s grand prix from 26th place, despite lapping just 1.651 seconds off the pole pace.

The Estrella Galicia pairing of Alex Rins and Alex Marquez claimed grid positions one and two respectively in the Moto3 class, but the focus of the Aussie audience will undoubtedly be on Jack Miller, who qualified an impressive third.

Miller was the first KTM home, registering a 2m06.365 lap, 0.392 seconds off the session benchmark.

The second Aussie in the class, Arthur Sissis, made some progress to push his Mahindra Racing machine to 29th, but it will a difficult place to push for a point-scoring finish from.

2014 MotoGP World Championship

Round one – Losail, Qatar

MotoGP qualifying results:
1. Marc MARQUEZ 1m54.507
2. Alvaro BAUTISTA 1m54.564
3. Bradley SMITH 1m54.601
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1m54.644
5. Jorge LORENZO 1m54.661
6. Dani PEDROSA 1m54.703
7. Stefan BRADL 1m54.871
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW 1m54.888
9. Aleix ESPARGARO 1m54.986
10. Valentino ROSSI 1m55.096
21. Broc PARKES (AUS) 1m57.574

Moto2 qualifying results:
1. Esteve RABAT 2m00.081
2. Sandro CORTESE 2m00.101
3. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 2m00.451
4. Thomas LUTHI 2m00.459
5. Sam LOWES 2m00.547
6. Mika KALLIO 2m00.621
7. Xavier SIMEON 2m00.696
8. Alex DE ANGELIS 2m00.764
9. Johann ZARCO 2m00.806
10. Simone CORSI 2m00.831
26. Anthony WEST (AUS) 2m01.732

Moto3 qualifying results:
1. Alex RINS 2m05.973
2. Alex MARQUEZ 2m06.125
3. Jack MILLER 2m06.365
4. Jakub KORNFEIL 2m06.515
5. Isaac VIÑALES 2m06.843
6. Danny KENT 2m06.864
7. John MCPHEE 2m07.113
8. Romano FENATI 2m07.126
9. Niccolò ANTONELLI 2m07.205
10. Francesco BAGNAIA 2m07.258
29. Arthur SISSIS (AUS) 2m09.357

Click here for detailed results