Marc Marquez crashes, then storms to wet Phillip Island MotoGP pole
Marc Marquez recovered from an early crash to dominate a wet Australian MotoGP qualifying, beating brother Alex Marquez by almost 1.5s.
Marc Marquez crashed on his opening flying lap in qualifying for the Australian MotoGP, then returned on his spare Ducati to claim pole position by almost 1.5s.
The reigning champion had dominated wet final practice at Phillip Island.
However, more rain arrived on the slowly drying track just as Qualifying 2 began, catching Marquez out at the Turn 4 Miller hairpin.
With no lap time set, Marc Marquez - currently locked in a close title battle with Jorge Martin - could have been in big trouble.
But Marquez returned to the paddock via the service road, walked straight through the Ducati pits and climbed onto his spare bike.
He then shot to the top on his first complete flying lap and, after briefly losing P1 to Johann Zarco, responded with a stunning 1m 34.203s to put the final Phillip Island MotoGP pole well out of reach.
Younger brother Alex Marquez eventually made it a Ducati one-two, finishing 1.493s behind Marc, with former Phillip Island winner Zarco completing the front row for LCR Honda.
Title leader Martin salvaged fourth place as the leading Aprilia, while home hero Jack Miller, who joined Zarco in progressing through Qualifying 1, claimed fifth for Pramac Yamaha.
Defending Phillip Island winner Raul Fernandez will complete row two for Trackhouse Aprilia.
Pedro Acosta had hoped for rain but could only manage seventh for KTM, ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) and Martin's factory team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.
Having led Friday's dry Practice, Bezzecchi was among those to lose out most in the wet conditions.
All eyes will now be on the weather ahead of this afternoon’s Sprint race, with further showers forecast for the rest of the day and even heavier rain expected on Sunday.
Marquez starts the Sprint just two points behind Martin and will regain the title lead if he wins the Sprint.
Meanwhile, Luca Marini, suffering from a virus, has been declared unfit for the remainder of the weekend, leaving the HRC team without any riders.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
