Silverstone MotoGP: Marquez beats Rossi for fourth straight pole

Honda rider Marquez was the first one to cross the line on the final runs of qualifying, where all the majority of the Q2 contenders improved their times.

He had also been fastest after the first runs ahead of Maverick Vinales and Cal Crutchlow, before setting a 1m59.941s just before the chequered flag came out.

That appeared to put him out of sight, but Crutchlow was only 0.165s down with his next attempt despite feeling he made an error in the middle complex. Rossi then slotted between them on the front row, missing out on pole by 0.084s.

Vinales also improved but could only manage fourth fastest, ahead of the Ducatis of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso that set the pace in FP4 just before qualifying.

Lorenzo topped that session despite a scare when his first bike failed on track, forcing him to rush back to the pits to get some mileage on his second machine – which he stayed with even when the first bike was returned to the pits and ready for action in time for qualifying.

Dani Pedrosa, who had to advance from Q1 after not making the top 10 in the combined free practice order, was seventh, just ahead of the Tech 3 Yamaha of Johann Zarco.

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and an unwell Jonas Folger – who joined Pedrosa in making it through from Q1 – completed the top 10, while Pol Espargaro and Scott Redding completed the Q2 field.

The KTM rider was eighth after his first run but crashed while shadowing Marquez before the final set of flyers.

The most notable incident in Q1 was a fall at Farm for Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati), who made it back to the pits to try his second bike but was only eighth in that session.

Q2 results

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'59.941
2	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	2'00.025	0.084
3	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	2'00.106	0.165
4	25	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	2'00.341	0.400
5	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	2'00.399	0.458
6	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	2'00.572	0.631
7	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	2'00.578	0.637
8	5	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	2'00.622	0.681
9	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	2'00.764	0.823
10	94	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	2'00.829	0.888
11	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	2'01.378	1.437
12	45	Scott Redding	Ducati	2'01.994	2.053

Q1 results

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	2'00.830
2	94	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	2'01.162	0.332
3	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	2'01.285	0.455
4	19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	2'01.340	0.510
5	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	2'01.567	0.737
6	8	Hector Barbera	Ducati	2'01.669	0.839
7	43	Jack Miller	Honda	2'01.672	0.842
8	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	2'01.770	0.940
9	38	Bradley Smith	KTM	2'02.017	1.187
10	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	2'02.037	1.207
11	76	Loris Baz	Ducati	2'02.185	1.355
12	53	Tito Rabat	Honda	2'02.211	1.381
13	22	Sam Lowes	Aprilia	2'02.787	1.957