Qualifying report
MotoGP Valencia GP
Valencia MotoGP: Marquez on pole despite crash, Dovizioso P9
Marc Marquez will start the title-deciding MotoGP season finale at Valencia from pole position despite a late crash in qualifying, while championship rival Andrea Dovizioso could do no better than ninth.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Nov 11, 2017, 3:58 PM
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Honda man Marquez, who only needs a top-11 finish on Sunday to guarantee his fourth premier class title, set the early pace with a 1m30.424s, before improving to a 1m29.897s at the end of his first run.
That time would ultimately be good enough for an eighth pole position of the season by a margin of 0.349s over Tech 3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco.
But Marquez denied himself the chance to improve when he lost the front end of his works Honda at the Turn 4 right-hander at the start of his second run with just over two minutes remaining.
Suzuki's Andrea Iannone briefly became Marquez's nearest challenger shortly afterwards with a 1m30.399s, before Zarco took the place away with a 1m30.246s.
Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo looked to be the only rider with the pace to topple Marquez, but will start fourth after crashing at the end of his first run at the final corner.
But the session was a struggle for his teammate Dovizioso, who has to win if he's to have any chance of beating Marquez to the title.
The Italian languished down in 12th at the halfway mark, but eventually improved to ninth by the end of the session, 1.064s off the pace.
Splitting the two factory Ducati riders on the grid are Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Ducati tester Michele Pirro, top factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), another late crasher.
The second Suzuki of Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro and Jack Miller (Marc VDS Honda) completed the top 12, although KTM rider Espargaro starts from the pits for exceeding his season's engine allocation in Friday practice.
Q1: Vinales eliminated
The highest-profile casualty in Q1 was the second factory Yamaha of Maverick Vinales, who could only manage the third-best time in the opening qualifying segment.
His best time of 1m31.030s briefly put him second, behind Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, but moments later he was demoted to third as Pol Espargaro jumped to the top of the times.
It means Vinales qualified 13th - he will start 12th when Pol's pitlane penalty is factored in - ahead of Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Honda) and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati).
A late crash for Cal Crutchlow at Turn 10 means the LCR Honda rider starts 15th, one place ahead of the second KTM of Bradley Smith.
Sam Lowes will start his final MotoGP race for Aprilia from 24th after a late crash, while Tech 3 stand-in Michael van der Mark brings up the rear in 25th.
Q2 results:
Pos.#RiderBikeTimeGap 1 93 
Marc Marquez Honda 1'29.897 2 5 
Johann Zarco Yamaha 1'30.246 0.349 3 29 
Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1'30.399 0.502 4 99 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 1'30.460 0.563 5 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1'30.589 0.692 6 51 Michele Pirro Ducati 1'30.764 0.867 7 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'30.848 0.951 8 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1'30.857 0.960 9 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'30.961 1.064 10 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 1'30.972 1.075 11 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 1'31.044 1.147 12 43 
Jack Miller Honda 1'31.190 1.293
Q1 results:
Pos.#RiderBikeTimeGap 1 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 1'30.893 2 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1'30.913 0.020 3 25 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1'31.030 0.137 4 53 Tito Rabat Honda 1'31.197 0.304 5 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'31.216 0.323 6 35 
Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'31.297 0.404 7 38 Bradley Smith KTM 1'31.300 0.407 8 17 
Karel Abraham Ducati 1'31.325 0.432 9 36 
Mika Kallio KTM 1'31.361 0.468 10 8 Hector Barbera Ducati 1'31.487 0.594 11 19 Alvaro Bautista Ducati 1'31.578 0.685 12 45 Scott Redding Ducati 1'31.625 0.732 13 76 Loris Baz Ducati 1'31.775 0.882 14 22 Sam Lowes Aprilia 1'31.816 0.923 15 60 
Michael van der Mark Yamaha 1'32.504 1.611
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