Marc Marquez did the right thing during qualifying at Phillip Island, where he once again demonstrated that a fall a few minutes before the major event was not the type to disrupt him. A seventh leading position of the season which could well be its most important of the year. Because his direct rival in the title race could not do better than eleventh. And the Honda official has the firm intention of taking advantage of this situation to finally bring Dovizioso and his Ducati into line.
The title holder did not shy away from his pleasure when remembering these qualifications: “ I am very happy with this pole position. Not just for herself, but because she comes at a crucial moment in the championship. It will be of great help for the future because Dovizioso will only start from eleventh place. That being said, at Motegi he was ninth and after just four laps he was already fourth ».
« So we'll see how it goes because the conditions are different here. The weather will play its role. Viñales is fast, Zarco has good pace. The most important thing will be to cross the finish line and if possible in front of Dovizioso. The race will start at 16:00 p.m. local time. This is the time when temperatures drop. This will be critical. But as usual, I will give it my all ».
« My pace is good, I'm quite good on the bike both with the soft tire and the medium rear. This is important from a race perspective. We still have to find something in the settings because I'm not 100% comfortable ».
With three Grands Prix remaining, including the Australian Grand Prix, Marc Márquez leads overall with 11 points ahead of Dovizioso. Finally, this pole position of Marquez is his fourth consecutive at Phillip Island in MotoGP.
#AustralianGP MotoGP J.2: Chronos
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'28.386 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'28.719 | 0.333 | 0.333 |
| 3 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'28.744 | 0.358 | 0.025 |
| 4 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'28.937 | 0.551 | 0.193 |
| 5 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'28.964 | 0.578 | 0.027 |
| 6 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'29.030 | 0.644 | 0.066 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'29.203 | 0.817 | 0.173 |
| 8 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'29.271 | 0.885 | 0.068 |
| 9 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'29.321 | 0.935 | 0.050 |
| 10 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'29.429 | 1.043 | 0.108 |
| 11 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'29.496 | 1.110 | 0.067 |
| 12 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'29.546 | 1.160 | 0.050 |
| Q1 Results: | ||||||
| Q2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'29.346 | ||
| Q2 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'29.705 | 0.359 | 0.359 |
| 13 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'29.824 | 0.478 | 0.119 |
| 14 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'29.847 | 0.501 | 0.023 |
| 15 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'29.961 | 0.615 | 0.114 |
| 16 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'30.085 | 0.739 | 0.124 |
| 17 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 1'30.224 | 0.878 | 0.139 |
| 18 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'30.471 | 1.125 | 0.247 |
| 19 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'30.543 | 1.197 | 0.072 |
| 20 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'30.806 | 1.460 | 0.263 |
| 21 | 23 | Broc PARKES | Yamaha | 1'30.889 | 1.543 | 0.083 |
| 22 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'30.900 | 1.554 | 0.011 |
| 23 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 1'31.158 | 1.812 | 0.258 |
