After mixed weather all weekend, including both wet and dry practice sessions, qualifying for tomorrow’s Austrian MotoGP race took place on a dry circuit. The fight for pole position was incredibly close with Marc Marquez (Honda) edging out Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) by less than 1/100th of a second. Dovi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo qualified third. Of note, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) uncharacteristically qualified way back in 14th position – meaning he will start from the 5th row tomorrow.
Take a look here for full qualifying results. Stay tuned for race coverage on MD tomorrow.
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Poor Valentino, with Zarco finishing 6th in qualifying, Vale is in 14th and Vinales in 12th. How can a satellite team be so much faster than the factory bikes, I dont know. Rossi is probably pounding the table, if it wasnt for Marquez….
If you watched the free practice and qualifying sessions, you would know. Valentino’s #1 bike had a mechanical in FP1, and with FP2 and FP3 taking place in the wet he had no opportunity to improve on his FP1 time and avoid Q1. During Q1, his bike suffered additional issues with the electronics, relegating him to P14.
I take it you missed the formal apology issued today by the Yamaha brass to the Yamaha factory riders?
Otherwise, check the points table for the season. #46 lies second in the overall standings, well ahead of the two satellite Yamaha riders. A better example of your point would be over on the Honda side, where factory Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa trails satellite Honda rider Cal Crutchlow by thirty-three points, even despite Crutchlow’s numerous crashes and DNFs.
My point exactly. The formal apology from Yamaha, wasnt on the program I watched yesterday, but was on today. If not for Marquez, Rossi would be leading (pounding the table). I agree, Dani’s ready to hang up his leathers. At the beginning of the year, Rossi and Vinales both seemed to be on the cusp of domination. but how reality is so different. Today, Lorenzo wins WITH A SOFT REAR TIRE! Seemingly, maybe, he has learned to not burn it up early, saving whats in it for the last few laps. I dont know.
There are so many here that just dig, dig, dig into Marquez, all the Rossi fans are without comment this year. I thought Zarco might be in the hunt today, but as you metioned, it was Crutchlow who shined. If not for (if and buts and candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry christmas) his crashes, he too might be in the hunt. Looking forward to see what happens next year when Lorenzo and Marquez are teammates. The last laps with Lorenzo and Marquez banging elbows had me on the edge of my seat. Great stuff. The camera view of Dovi’s bike looking forward, at how close he came to hitting Marquez, when he funneled back in after the Lorenzo pass, had me screaming “look out”, so close. Your post was @3:01 are you in USA?
Yep, I’m in California. Pretty sure that 3:01 a.m. post is EST, not PST. I certainly didn’t post it at three in the morning, my time.
Looks like she’s gonna be a barn burner! Check out the MotoGP website. Has last years pole lap with Marquez side by side with this years lap. Fun to watch.