MotoGP Sepang qualifying report - Another record broken

On a sweltering hot Saturday at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took his record 13th MotoGP pole position for 2014, smashing his own lap record from last year and breaking the two-minute-lap barrier on the picturesque circuit with a 1:59.791 lap. With ambient temperatures hovering around 95 degrees F and track temps reaching 136 degrees F, it was a tough day for both riders and bikes, with Marquez, Valentino Rossi, and Pol Espargaro all suffering crashes in the previous practice sessions. The Repsol Hondas seemed to be in a class of their own, as Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa also broke the two-minute barrier with a 1:59.973 to take second position on the grid. Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo pushed to the absolute limit to stay with the Hondas and was successful in staying on the front row, albeit running almost half a second behind Marquez’s lap time and unable to break the 2:00 mark.

Marquez’s pole was also his 50th career pole position, and although he tried to downplay the importance of qualifying on pole, it was apparent that his competitive streak makes them satisfying nonetheless. “The pole position of course is not the most important, the most important is on Sunday,” said the two-time MotoGP World Champion. “But the pole position for me is important because it’s the fastest rider in one lap. But in the end like I say, the most important is the race. So tomorrow we will try to find a good feeling with the bike. Of course we hope tomorrow will be a dry race because it’s better for the show and for the riders, but we will try to do our best because here Dani is really strong. I didn’t expect before qualifying this lap time because it was really hot, the asphalt I think was 58 degrees (Celsius, equal to 136 degrees Fahrenheit). And you know, in that condition normally the track is more slippery and the bikes are slower. But anyway we did a really fast lap but tomorrow will be a tough race with that temperature.”

Pedrosa was surprised at his lap time considering the heat, which he felt was worse than in previous years. “Yeah, unbelievable, today was really, really hot, one of the hottest days I remember here. It was really a good lap time considering the conditions. Normally we don’t go that fast in that temperature, the engines and the tires are not working at top level. And to still be on the front row is a good thing. And we’ll need a little bit of luck to keep the second place in the championship.”

Lorenzo was happy to qualify on the front row, and knows that his pace on race rubber is much better than what qualifying showed. “We knew it would be difficult to stay on the same level as the official Honda riders because in the heat, especially with new tires, they can take advantage of all the traction and we struggle a little bit. But my lap time is quite good for the conditions of the track. I pushed at the limit to make the best lap time possible to stay at least in third position and we got it finally. On race pace I think we are better and closer to them. The race is very long, it’s going to be important to be fast when the tires start to drop. I think some small details we can improve to make the bike more easy to ride in acceleration.”

MotoGP Sepang final qualifying results: