Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of his title rivals and proved that he is the rider to beat, during the MotoGP qualifying session at Silverstone. The current champ had a record breaking Q2 where he set a new outright track record, twice on the way to pole.

An impressive 2’00.234 was three tenths quicker than his best time from 2013, but he was not the only rider to go under the 2’00’6’s. Current series leader, Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lapped a 2’00.522 and was only 0.2s off a P1 spot, and even a last lap dash was not enough topple an in-form Marquez. Lorenzo set his quickest time on a soft front and a harder rear tyres, but Lorenzo went for a medium rear and soft front combination.

His team-mate, Dani Pedrosa found the pace that he had been lacking all weekend, and came good during Q2, and makes up an all Spanish front row, with a 2’00.716 rotation.

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was seven tenths slower than pace-setter Marquez, but did place his YZR-M1 on the second row. The multiple-champ is joined by Monster Yamaha’s Pol Espargaro and his team-mate, Britain’s very own Bradley Smith.

The Englishman was the fastest Brit this afternoon with a 1’01.140. Marc VDS Racing’s Scott Redding was 0.2s off a second row start and heads row three, with fellow countryman, LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow in P8.

In Q1, Pramac Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez had an impressive final sector and went through to bag a place in Q2. But his good form pushed Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales out of contention for a spot in the final qualifying session.

But his team-mate Aleix Espargaro managed to remain as the second fastest rider in Q1, to go into Q2. The team pitted early to save the tyres, but the gamble did not pay off, as Hernandez did a 2’01.888, and was the only rider to lap inside the 2’01’s. In Q2, Espargaro and Hernandez ended the session in P10 and P11 respectively.

Aspar’s Eugene Laverty will start from nineteenth on the grid after a 2’02.894. He failed to get out of the first qualifying session, but did knock one second off his best time set in FP3 earlier today.

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