World Championship leader Marc Marquez absolutely destroyed the MotoGP track record after following Valentino Rossi to secure his sixtieth career MotoGP pole position with a stunning 1:58.168 at Silverstone.

Fabio Quartararo came into qualifying as favourite for the pole position after a stunning run of times in FP3 which saw him take the two-wheeled lap record at Silverstone. However, the Frenchman lost his main bike, leaving him with just his second bike.

Despite this, it was the Frenchman who posted the first lap through all riders first flying laps. Whilst his top spot looked as if it may be snatched away by Andrea Dovizioso after the Ducati man posted three red sectors, the Italian lost it in sector four and with just ten second until the chequered flag was due to come out, Quartararo was sat on pole from Dovizioso and Alex Rins.

However, the session wasn’t over, and the trio of Rossi, Marquez and Jack Miller all made it through to start flying laps and the trio set about posting scorching hot lap times. Rossi was the first across the line and held the top spot for all of one second, before Marquez, who had been using the Italian as a reference, reeling him in, made the most of it, posting a stunning 1:58.168, 0.379 seconds faster than Quartararo’s previous lap record from FP3.

Rossi was demoted to second, but hold off Miller’s late lap, to claim his first front row start since Austin earlier in 2019. Miller, meanwhile, will be hoping to convert his front row start into his first MotoGP points at Silverstone.

The front row won’t be without controversy, with all three coasting around on their warmup lap, with none of the trio wanting to lead the other two around. Eventually Rossi decided to pull the pin, with the Spaniard and Aussie close in tow.

Fabio Quartararo looked disappointed with fourth place after his record-breaking pace in free practice, with the Frenchman sharing the second row on the grid with Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales, with the two Spaniards in fifth and sixth respectively.

Dovizioso eventually ended up in seventh place on his GP19, ahead of compatriot Franco Morbidelli with Crutchlow’s crash proving costly, leaving him down on the back of the third row. Taka Nakgami will start one spot and one row behind his LCR team-mate in tenth place, with Danilo Petrucci and Aleix Espargaro rounding out the front four rows.