Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/364850
50 REIGNING World Champion Marc Márquez claimed a tightly contest- ed pole position as he edged out Ducati pairing Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone at Brno. Márquez posted a lap during the final stages of the session to move ahead of his rivals, with the top 11 riders separated by just over half a second. Jorge Lorenzo initially set the benchmark time but his lap was eclipsed by Aleix Espargaro, before Márquez went four tenths quicker up front, with Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa slotting into second. Dovizioso and Iannone also edged ahead of Lorenzo, while Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was near the foot of the times following his heavy crash in the final prac- tice session, after which he brief ly visited the medical centre. Márquez came out for his second run and while he passed Iannone on his hot lap, the Pramac rider hung on to the Spaniard and when Márquez lowered his own bench- mark, Iannone used the slipstream over the line to go 0.003s quicker and snatch top spot. Márquez nonetheless pressed on and re-claimed top spot with a 1:55.585 and was not headed, while Dovizioso vaulted up to second place on the factory Ducati, 0.129s down on Márquez. Bradley Smith improved from 12th to fourth during the dying stages of the session and he was just 0.004s down on Iannone, who will start from the front row of the grid. Pedrosa ended up only fifth de- spite setting the pace in practice, while Yamaha's travails continue as Lorenzo was sixth, with Rossi in seventh. Stefan Bradl was quickest in Q1 and made the most of his ad- vancement by setting the eighth quickest time in Q2, ahead of Pol Espargaró and brother Aleix Es- pargaró. Cal Crutchlow was 11th, albeit just 0.544s down on Márquez's pole time, with Yonny Hernández in 12th. Ducati wildcard rider Michele Pirro qualified in 13th place hav- ing been the fastest rider to fail to make it past the first segment, while Álvaro Bautista edged out Gresini rival Scott Redding for 14th position, with the Brit com- plaining of a lack of grip. Hiroshi Aoyama was 16th, ahead of home hero Karel Abra- ham, with replacement rider Le- on Camier a fine 18th for Aspar. Danilo Petrucci led a close group of riders, including Alex De Ange- lis, Héctor Barberá and Michael Laverty, with the latter pairing posting identical lap times. Broc Parkes was a distant 23rd while Mike di Meglio suffered an accident in the fourth practice session and then encountered an- other one at the start of qualif ying and failed to post a time. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 AUGUST 2014 Sport Starting Grid - 2014 Czech Republic MotoGP Grand Prix Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 01:55.585 7 2. A. Dovizioso Ducati 01:55.714 6 3. A. Iannone Pramac 01:55.726 7 4. B. Smith Tech 3 01:55.730 6 5. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 01:55.812 7 6. J. Lorenzo Yamaha 01:55.815 6 7. V. Rossi Yamaha 01:55.821 7 8. S. Bradl LCR 01:55.871 7 9. P. Espargaro Tech 3 01:55.899 7 10. A. Espargaro Forward 01:56.090 6 11. C. Crutchlow Ducati 01:56.129 7 12. Y. Hernandez Pramac 01:56.622 7 HORSE RACING MOTOGP Noel Baldacchino in European Driver Championship CHAMPION driver Noel Baldacchi- no will be heading to Sweden today to represent Malta in the European Championship for Professional Driv- ers which is going to be hosted by the racetracks of Solanget and Umea to- morrow and on Tuesday. The best drivers in Europe partici- pate in this championship and this year apart from Baldacchino the participants are Hubert Brandstat- ter Jr (Austria), Knud Monster (Den- mark), Mika Forss (Finland), Tony Le Beller (France), Michael Nimczyk (Germany), Hugo Langeweg Jr (The Netherlands), Vidar Hop (Norway), Branislav Mukic (Serbia), Guillermo Andreau Adover (Spain) and Bjorn Goop (Sweden). The driver that won the most races last year is Bjorn Goop who registered 367 victories from 2084 starts and he is hoping to win this championship as it is being held in his home country. These past years this championship is being held every other year as it is alternat- ing with the World Championship. The drivers that make it in the top five places in this championship gain the right to participate in the World Championship scheduled to be held in Australia next February. Last year the world championship was won by France and Pierre Vercruysse whilst the European Championship in 2012 was won by Italian Enrico Bellei. Drivers are awarded points accord- ing to the placing they finish in with the winner getting 18 points, second placed 13, third placed 10 points and in fourth place eight points with the other placings getting one point less each time. A disqualification is awarded one point whilst if a horse is declared a non runner the driver gets six points. The championship opens up at the racetrack of Solanget tomorrow with the drivers taking part in four races. This racetrack is 1,004m long. The first race is at 19:08 over a distance of 1,646m autostart for horses hav- ing up to 850,000 Swedish Kroner in earnings. Noel Baldacchino will be driving mount number 10 Pine Rolls, a six-year old Norwegian entry which does not seem to be among the favourites to win the champion- ship. The second race starts at 19:52 over a 2650m distance for horses with a maximum earnings of Sek 175,000. Baldacchino has drawn number 4 Razza Yamoz and once again does not seem to be amongst the favour- ites. In the following race the drivers will be competing on Kallblads over the 1646 system and for Noel Bald- acchino this will be his first experi- ence driving such horses. He will be starting with number 6 on Nor- wegian Hogda Kvikk that does not seem to be one of the best horses in the field. The last race at Solanget starts at 20:36 over a distance of 2148m and with horses that have a maximum of 300,000 Swedish Kroner in earn- ings. This time Baldacchino seems to have been lucky in the draws as with number 3 and the Robert Bergh trained Elegance Brodde he will be starting amongst the most favourite to win the race. The following day drivers move to the racetrack of Umaker with an- other four races. The first race is the third one of the programme for hors- es with a maximum of Sek 525,000 in earnings and Noel Baldacchino does not seem to have drawn a good horse as he is being considered as the least one with any chance of victory. Here he has number 3 and the horse Rally Swing. In the second race the drivers will once again be driving kallblads over the 2140m distance. Noel will be starting with number 7 Angskalla and it seems he stands a good chance of acquiring a good placing. The 7th race is over the 1640m distance and is open to all horses. Baldacchino will be driving number 9 Bart Sjo- hammar and it seems that here one horse will be starting as the clear favourite with all the other horses having an equal chance of acquiring a place. The last race of the champion- ship is for mares with up to Sek 250,000 in earnings over the 2140m distance. Noel Baldac hino will be driving number 11 Global Numer- ous and does not seem that he will be amongst the favourites. Each race in this championship has a first prize of Sek 40,000. This championship saw its first edition in 1969 which was won by Norwegian Karsten Buer. Noel Baldacchino returns to Malta on Thursday and during this trip will be accompanied by Mr Tony De- manuele one of the members of the Malta Racing Club Council. Noel Baldacchino Ninth pole of the year for World Champion Marquez Marc Márquez