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MotoGP Aragon: Marc Marquez equals Lorenzo pole record

Marc Marquez will start as favourite on Sunday after qualifying first for the Aragon Grand Prix in some style.

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MotoGP world championship leader Marc Marquez will start from the front of the grid at his home track on Sunday after a dominant qualifying display, as he seeks to make up for the disappointment of last year's Aragon Grand Prix.

An accident saw Marquez fail to finish at Ciudad del Motor de Aragon in 2015, but the Spaniard, riding for Repsol Honda, qualified fastest on Saturday with a blistering time of 1 minute and 47.117 seconds.

In doing so he equalled Jorge Lorenzo's record of 64 career poles, at the age of just 23.

"My speed is normally good here," he said.

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"Today we found a good set-up. Even like this the tyre [drops] a lot and we need to manage this.

"With the high temperatures we are able to use the hard [tyre compound]. Maybe tomorrow it will be difficult to use but I'm happy with the pace this weekend."

Marquez was 0.631s faster than compatriot Maverick Vinales of Suzuki Ecstar, with Movistar Yamaha's Lorenzo - who won in Aragon last year and is third in the riders' standings - completing an all-Spanish top three, waiting until his seventh and final qualifying lap to record a time of 1:47.778s.

Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda took fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi, 43 points behind Marquez in second place in the championship battle.

Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa, who qualified in seventh place, both fell in the session but appeared to escape unhurt, continuing an eventful Saturday after a host of minor accidents in the third free practice session.

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Provisional Classification

1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 1:47.117secs     2. Maverick Vinales (Suzuki Ecstar) 1:47.748s 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) 1:47.778s  4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1:47.819s 5. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) 1:47.843s  6. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) 1:47.951s  7. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1:48.017s  8. Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki Ecstar) 1:48.230s  9. Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) 1:48.236s  10. Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) 1:48.242s

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