Marquez on pole again for Aragon MotoGP

Honda's MotoGP leader Marc Marquez has pole position for the Aragon race in Spain, the 11th time he has qualified fastest for a race this season.

Spain's rider Marc Marquez

MotoGP leader Marc Marquez has moved into second place in practice for the Grand Prix of Aragon. (AAP)

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez claimed his 11th pole position in 14 races this season with a new qualifying record for the Aragon Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Spaniard smashed his own previous record in taking pole last year by 0.617sec to edge Honda teammate and compatriot Dani Pedrosa in 1min 47.187sec

Italy's Andrea Iannone will also start on the front row on a Ducati Pramac but there was disappointment for the factory Yamahas as seven-time world champions Valentino Rossi qualified sixth, just ahead of Jorge Lorenzo in seventh.

Marquez leads the championship standings by a mammoth 74 points, but endured by far the worst race of his season so far in San Marino two weeks ago as an early crash saw him finish 15th.

However, he is a heavy favourite to edge ever closer to his second world championship in as many years as a MotoGP rider with a 12th win of the season after a dominant qualifying session on home soil.

The 21-year-old broke the track record on his first flying lap, but was usurped by Pedrosa midway through the session as he moved into provisional pole position.

Marquez wasn't to be denied, though, as he went over three tenths of a second quicker than Pedrosa on his final lap.

"Dani here is always really fast here," said Marquez.

"I have felt so good during the whole weekend and when I saw P2 on the board I knew I had to push a little bit more and it was enough for the pole."

Nine-time world champion Rossi's return to form with a first victory of the season in San Marino failed to continue as both Yamaha riders struggled to compete with the times set by the Hondas.

Rossi was marginally the better by two hundredths of a second to sneak onto the second row of the grid alongside Spain's Pol Espargaro in fourth and Britain's Cal Crutchlow, who qualified in an impressive fifth.


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