MotoGP – Marquez holds to pole position despite crashing

Bruno Gomes

May 18, 2019

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez secured his third pole position of the year but didn’t avoid a small crash in qualifying at Le Mans.

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) managed to get the best out of tricky track conditions. The Spaniard secured his third pole position of the year. He also equals Valentino Rossi MotoGP pole position numbers with 55 each. The Honda rider had a tough day though, with two minor crashes, one in qualifying.

But not even the crashes stopped Marquez from securing another MotoGP pole position.

Marc Marquez outperformed everyone else on track, and with such a slippery surface it was a difficult mission to keep the bikes upright. Next to the Honda rider on the grid, we will see two Ducati’s, with Danilo Petrucci in second and Jack Miller in third. The Australian rider also crashed.

Valentino Rossi and his teammate Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha) took a gamble on slick tyres. But that gamble didn’t paid off, and both had to switch to rain tyres. Rossi managed to finish with 5^th best time and Viñales only 10^th.

As for Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech3), the Malaysian ended qualifying for the French GP in 21^st. As for other riders, and especially for those riding a KTM RC16, the tricky conditions made it impossible for Syahrin to do better. The Tech3 rider tried his best but today was not his day

“The conditions have been tricky today. But I felt better step by step in the wet and also build some confidence with the wet tyre. It’s difficult to say because nearly all started with the wet tyres in Qualifying. Valentino (Rossi) was the cleverest rider as he commenced with the slicks, but I guess this is due to his experience. Anyway, I hope that we can make another step tomorrow and then enjoy the race”, said Hafizh Syahrin after qualifying at Le Mans.