Marc Marquez captured pole for Sunday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix with a track-record lap during Saturday’s qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 20-year-old Spaniard posted a time of one minute 37.958 seconds to better the previous track record of 1:38.813 by Dani Pedrosa.
Saturday’s top four qualifiers – Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow – all recorded times faster than the old track record. Pedrosa, Marquez’s Honda teammate, won last year’s title from pole.
Marquez, the 2012 Moto2 champion, is making a phenomenal transition to MotoGP this year.
With three wins in nine races this season, he’s been the sport’s most dominant and most consistent racer. Previously, he took pole at Austin, France and Germany. He leads Pedrosa by 16 points.
“Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a tough race because everybody is struggling quite a lot at the end of the race with the tyres. We are ready to fight for the win, but for sure, Jorge and Dani will be strong,” Marquez said.
A mishap during morning practice ended Ben Spies’ comeback plans.
The American fell on turn four and stood up clutching his left shoulder. Race officials said he suffered a dislocation and will undergo additional examination on Monday.
Spies’ right shoulder, surgically reconstructed after a crash at last season’s Grand Prix of Malaysia, was not affected.
Spies finished tenth at this year’s season opener in Qatar, but has been hampered by setbacks since then.
Spies took pole at Indy in 2010. He started in the top four for three consecutive years and has a pair of top-three finishes.