Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider Marc Márquez's season hit the heights again on Saturday when his pole position in qualifying for the MotoGP 125cc Australian Grand Prix meant that he now holds the record for most poles in a single season.
The young Spaniard, who currently leads the 125cc championship will go into Sunday's race in top spot for the 11th time in 2010 and he will be joined on the front row by Sandro Cortese, Pol Espargaro and Nico Terol.
After the rain that welcomed the World Championship riders to the Phillip Island track on Friday, the sun provided better conditions for holding the second practice and qualifying sessions of the Australian Grand Prix.
However, the cold and the wind stayed at the fast Australian circuit and the track was still wet when the riders went out in the morning session, in which Marc Márquez was second with a time that was 10 seconds faster than yesterday, but still 10 seconds behind those registered in the qualifying.
As time went by, the sun warmed up the track and in the 125cc qualifying session, the riders were able to ride with the asphalt at 24ºC, despite an air temperature of 14ºC.
In these conditions, Marc Márquez progressed gradually and although he started off gently, in his second outing, he quickly got into the fastest group. He was the first to ride at under one minute and 40 seconds and showing an excellent pace, he continued advancing to reduce his times again to one minute and 39 seconds to then go on lowering his times, extending the gap with his rivals.
'I feel comfortable and we’ve done a good job' – Marc Márquez
And an understated Márquez was taking nothing for granted after breaking the record.
“The qualifying went quite well," he said. "I now have 11 pole positions, but more importantly, we have a good level and we have shown that with the track wet or dry or windy, we are up front, in conditions to fight for victory.
"I’m sure that things will be different tomorrow because it was the first dry session and I’m sure that the other riders will improve tomorrow.
"We’ll see what the temperature and weather are like when we get up, although we have the peace of mind that we have a good level in both the dry and wet.
"We’ll see if we can finish improving the bike in case the race is dry, to fine-tune the setup but we are confident in the bike, I feel comfortable and we’ve done a good job”.
Meanwhile, in the MotoGP class, there will be no return to the race track for fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa this weekend at Phillip Island.
The Honda rider was all set for a remarkable comeback from a broken collarbone sustained in Japan just a fortnight ago, but after completing 19 laps in practice it was decided that Pedrosa was not ready to race.
After a long meeting with his technicians and members of his team, the Spaniard took the difficult decision in order not to take any necessary risks, given the tough conditions of the track and his delicate physical condition.
The pain, lack of strength in the affected area and lack of control of the bike when it jerks finally forced him to opt out and return in Portugal instead.
For more from Phillip Island, head over to our dedicated event page here
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