2nd on grid
Marquez places second on the grid at Le Mans. After starting slowly in Q2, he sets his fastest time, 1’32.416, on his penultimate lap, which secured his front row position, and his 16th consecutive front row start. He is 0.441s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who takes pole.
I was able to set a good lap today, but it wasn’t perfect. At first with the new tyre I found it hard to get the same feeling I had with used tyres and the bike moved about a lot when I tried to push more. At the end I changed my riding style a little and set two pretty good laps that helped me to fulfil my main objective, which was to get on the front row. I think the pace that I have isn’t bad, and in the last free practice I felt comfortable, although I’m still not quite as fast as Jorge [Lorenzo]. We’ll see what weather we have tomorrow and what the track temperature is for the race, and try to manage things as best we can.
7th on grid
Rossi places seventh on the grid at Le Mans. Rossi’s initial strategy was thwarted when he has to take evasive action to avoid Dani Pedrosa, who had crashed at Turn 4.
We did a wrong strategy and unfortunately I was stuck in the traffic. I lost a lot of time. But at the end, I had another chance to make one good lap and it was not so bad, but I made a mistake in section three and I lost a lot. My potential was to start with the top five. I have to start from the third row, from seventh, so it’s more difficult. The pace is not so bad, but from the third row everything is more difficult, but we can try to make a not so bad race. If we are able to improve two or three points, two tenths per lap, I can be also more competitive.
Takes Italian GP pole position
For the first time since 2008, Rossi takes pole position in Mugello, with a time of 1’46.750. Yamaha teammate Maverick Viñales comes second, with Andrea Iannone in third. Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo place fourth and fifth.
I‘m very, very happy because it has been a long time since I last had pole here in Mugello, in the last years I was always struggling a lot. From Free Practice this afternoon we made a good step with the bike and I had a good pace. Qualifying is always difficult, but we followed the right strategy in the right moment of qualifying and I am very happy to start from first position, first of all for all the fans, but especially here it‘s so important that I ride in front.
Italian GP: Fourth on pole
Marquez takes fourth place on the grid for the Italian GP at Mugello, 0.255s behind Valentino Rossi, who takes pole. Maverick Viñales comes second, and Andrea Iannone is third. Marquez’s fastest lap was hindered somewhat but a small mistake towards the end. For the first time since the Catalan GP in 2015, Marquez will start off the front row of the grid.
Fifth on grid
Rossi will start the Catalunya GP in fifth place on the grid, 0.735s behind Marc Marquez in pole. Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Hector Barbera follow.
A difficult day today. Yesterday was not so bad. Usually our bike is very competitive on this track, but with the modifying of the layout we suffered a lot – more than what we expected. The bigger problem for us is the medium tyre gives us quite good pace, like the other guys, but after seven or eight laps the tyre is very damaged and the tyre gives up. The hard tyre can resist for all the race, but unfortunately it’s very tough to ride and it’s impossible to go fast. We are a 1.5 seconds minimum slower.
Takes Catalunya pole
Marquez takes pole position in the Catalunya GP. He is followed on the grid by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.
Second place on grid
Rossi takes second place on the grid in Assen, trailing Dovizioso by half a second. Scott Redding is third.
I stopped at the pit box four minutes before the end of the session, because my rear tyre was already getting too hot, because there were some places of the track that were starting to dry. For me it was too early to change to the intermediate tyre because three or four corners were still completely wet, so we put in another rain tyre and it was the right choice. It’s a shame for me that I’m not in pole position, but above all I’m happy for the second place and starting from the first line tomorrow.
Third place on grid
Rossi takes third place on the grid for the German GP, behind Marc Marquez in pole and Hector Barbera in second place.
I’m very lucky to remain in the front row because unfortunately I wasn’t able to improve with the second tyre because I was stuck in traffic. Usually one or two people improve with the second tyre and you finish [the session] seventh. But fortunately I was able to stay on the front row, it’s a good place to start the race.
German GP: Pole position
Marquez takes pole position on the grid for the German GP, leading Hector Barbera and Valentino Rossi.
I’m happy to have set the fastest time today, because we’re better here than at other circuits. I have a fairly good pace and am riding comfortably. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, because the weather forecast is for conditions to be quite unstable. In any case, we’ll try to finish on the podium, which is our goal. It seems that Valentino [Rossi] is very strong, and we’ll also have to keep Dani [Pedrosa] in mind; I don’t know what happened to him in qualifying, but his pace is very close to ours and he’s very strong here.
Austrian GP: Second place on grid
Rossi takes second place on the Austrian GP grid, 0.147s behind Andrea Iannone, and ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.
I’m very happy to start on the front row and also because I was able to split the two Ducatis. It’s important to start from the front row, but now we have to wait for tomorrow – the conditions, the temperature and especially the tyre choice will be very important, because it’s open, especially for the rear, soft or hard. We have to put one eye on the front, I hope, to try to stay with [the Ducatis], but also one eye on the second row, because on the second row we have Lorenzo, Marquez and Vinales, all three have the pace to fight for the victory. The strongest six riders of the season are all in the first two rows, so it can be a good battle.
Austrian GP: Fifth place on grid
Despite his shoulder injury, Marquez comes fifth in qualifying for the Austrian GP, 0.333s behind Andrea Iannone, who takes the pole.
Sixth place on grid
Rossi places sixth on the grid for the Czech Republic GP, 0.913s behind Marc Marquez in pole position.
Outstanding lap from @marcmarquez93
All the more impressive considering the final sector #VR46 overtake!😳#CzechGP https://t.co/np7AkCie4t
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 20, 2016
Czech GP Pole Position
Marquez takes pole position in the Czech Republic GP, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone.
Outstanding lap from @marcmarquez93
All the more impressive considering the final sector #VR46 overtake!😳#CzechGP https://t.co/np7AkCie4t
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 20, 2016