Marquez romps to Austrian GP pole

Spielberg bei Knittelfeld - World champion Marc Marquez on a Honda stormed to pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Ducati pair Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.

Having won the last two GPs, three-time world champion Marquez has a 14-point lead in the standings over Maverick Vinales, who was fourth on Saturday with his Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi seventh.

It is a third straight pole for the Spaniard, who suffered a series of mechanical and tyre problems in the early season.

He posted a time of 1min 23.235sec to beat Dovizioso by 0.144sec for the 42nd pole of his 70 Grand Prix career.

He is on for a hat-trick of victories having also won the US GP at the start of the season.

Marquez, 24, has taken control of the Moto GP season after struggles earlier in the season had left him fourth following June's Dutch GP, behind Vinales, Dovizioso and Rossi.

However, since July's German GP, Marquez has been in a league of his own.

Leading grid positions for Sunday's Austrian motorcycling Grand Prix after qualifying at the Spielberg circuit on Saturday:

Moto GP

1st row

1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 1:23.235, 2. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) at 0.144, 3. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Ducati) 0.386

2nd row

4. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 0.519, 5. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati Pramac) 0.545, 6. Johann Zarco (FRA/Yamaha Tech3) 0.644

3rd row

7. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 0.747, 8. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 0.750, 9. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/LCR Honda) 0.789

4th row

10. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Suzuki) 0.950, 11. Karel Abraham (CZE/Ducati Aspar) 0.985, 12. Loris Baz (FRA/Ducati Avintia) 1.248

Moto 2

1st row

1. Mattia Pasini (ITA/Kalex) 1:29.394, 2. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex) 0.001, 3. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 0.176

2nd row

4. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 0.187, 5. Thomas Lthi (SUI/Kalex) 0.302, 6. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Kalex) 0.461

3ed row

7. Isaac Vinales (ESP/Kalex) 0.474, 8. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 0.604, 9. Xavi Vierge (ESP/Kalex) 0.703

Moto 3

1st row

1. Gabriel Rodrigo (ARG/KTM) 1:36.503, 2. Juanfran Guevara (ESP/KTM) 0.112, 3. Aron Canet (ESP/Honda) 0.187

2nd row

4. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Honda) 0.213, 5. John McPhee (GBR/Honda) 0.287, 6. Bo Bendsneyder (NED/KTM) 0.290

3rd row

7. Andrea Migno (ITA/KTM) 0.308, 8. Philipp Oettl (GER/KTM) 0.452, 9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Honda) 0.464