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MOTORCYCLING

Marc Marquez takes pole position at Australian MotoGP

Marc Marquez beat Cal Crutchlow at Australian GP when he dared to run slick tyres to perfection to take pole position.

Honda MotoGP rider Marquez of Spain celebrates after winning the Japanese Grand Prix and secured his third MotoGP championship in four years at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Motegi
Honda MotoGP rider Marquez of Spain celebrates after winning the Japanese Grand Prix and secured his third MotoGP championship in four years at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Motegi Reuters
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Qualifying was delayed by 30 minutes, after another round of rain arrived in the early stages of fourth practice on Saturday, causing a lengthy red flag in that session.

However the second phase ended up being the driest session of the weekend so far, with a downpour scheduled to arrive during the 15 minutes failing to do so.

Newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez rolled the dice to run slick tyres, while factory Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi struggled and will start 12th and 15th at Phillip Island on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Spaniard, on a Repsol Honda, posted the fastest lap of one minute 30.189 seconds amid threatening rain to start on the inside of the grid for Sunday's race.

It was Marquez's 37th MotoGP pole and 65th across all classes as he vies for his 30th career premier class win at Phillip Island.

British Honda rider Cal Crutchlow was second, ahead of Spain's Monster Yamaha racer Pol Espargaro with both to start off the front row with Marquez.

The two-part qualifying session played out under the threat of a downpour coming in off the sea but Marquez, who clinched his third MotoGP world title last weekend in Japan, took the risk and ran with slick tyres on the dry track surface.

His gamble paid off when he reeled off four fastest lap times before finishing 0.792 seconds ahead of Crutchlow at the end of Q2.

"This weekend has been really tricky with the weather conditions," Marquez said.

"You need to be fast, of course, but you also need a clever strategy and at the moment we are going out with the correct tyres every time and we were able to be on pole position.

"I feel comfortable on the bike and I am lucky that it [the world title] was already done in Japan because this weekend it is really difficult to manage."

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