news: Marquez takes last gasp pole, Miller on front row

Marc Marquez claimed pole position for the British MotoGP just moments after Valentino Rossi had himself taken top spot with the chequered flag out.

Rossi, Marquez, and Jack Miller crossed the control line within two seconds of each other at the end of qualifying, with their combined efforts pushing Fabio Quartararo from provisional pole onto the second row.

Marquez broke the all time MotoGP lap record at Silverstone, which was resurfaced earlier this year, with a 1:58.168s on the #93 Repsol Honda.

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That time best Rossi’s short-lived benchmark by 0.428s, while Miller was only 0.006s slower again having followed the two premier class world champions on his final lap.

Quartararo was on top after the first runs with a 1:58.612s on his Petronas SRT Yamaha and that remained his best, with the Frenchman going half a tenth slower on his only other flyer.

By that point, however, he was on his second bike due to a technical problem with that which he started the session.

Marquez was second when the circuit went quiet, Miller (Pramac Ducati) third, and Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha) down in 11th with a personal best of 2:00.187s, before they all dawdled at the start of their second runs as they tried to prevent each other from getting a tow.

In the end, Rossi led the charge and picked up just his second front row start of the season, while Miller’s is his third this year and second in three races.

Joining Quartararo on Row 2 are Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar), who came through Qualifying 1, and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha).

Andrea Dovizioso also made his way out of the first 15-minute segment of qualifying but could only put his Mission Winnow Ducati seventh on the grid, alongside Franco Morbidelli (Petronas SRT Yamaha) and Cal Crutchlow (Castrol LCR Honda).

The latter crashed on his second flyer having gone personal best to the first sector.

Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu LCR Honda) was 10th, ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) and Aleix Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia).

Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda) qualified second last in 21st on his return from injury.

Race start is Sunday at 2200 AEST, with 20 laps the scheduled distance.

Qualifying: British MotoGP

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/prev
1	93	Marc MARQUEZ	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:58.168
2	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:58.596	0.428 / 0.428
3	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:58.602	0.434 / 0.006
4	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	1:58.612	0.444 / 0.010
5	42	Alex RINS	ESP	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:58.670	0.502 / 0.058
6	12	Maverick VIÑALES	ESP	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:58.762	0.594 / 0.092
7	04	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:58.762	0.594
8	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	1:59.096	0.928 / 0.334
9	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	1:59.243	1.075 / 0.147
10	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	1:59.427	1.259 / 0.184
11	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:59.487	1.319 / 0.060
12	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	ESP	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1:59.620	1.452 / 0.133
13	44	Pol ESPARGARO	ESP	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.549	Q1 / Q1
14	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.648	Q1 / 0.099
15	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	1:59.758	Q1 / 0.110
16	53	Tito RABAT	ESP	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1:59.916	Q1 / 0.158
17	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	2:00.240	Q1 / 0.324
18	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	2:00.362	Q1 / 0.122
19	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	FRA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	2:00.660	Q1 / 0.298
20	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	2:00.700	Q1 / 0.040
21	99	Jorge LORENZO	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	2:01.562	Q1 / 0.862
22	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	2:04.845	Q1 / 3.283