Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/494410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 APRIL 2015 37 Sport MOTOGP MODEL BOAT RACING Márquez claims incredible pole at Austin WORLD Champion Marc Márquez claimed a stunning pole position during a thrilling end to qualifying for the Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin. Márquez set provisional pole but after returning to the pits he strug- gled to restart his bike prior to the final lap of the session. He was able to get going, but as he began his planned final flying lap, his bike suddenly slowed and he was forced to stop on the pit straight. He leapt over the pit wall and sprinted back to the Honda garage, where he jumped onto his spare bike and emerged back on track. By the time Márquez started his last lap - with just seconds of the session remaining - he had been bumped down to seventh place, with Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo enjoying spells at the front, before Andrea Dovizioso took control. But Márquez pressed on and de- spite a lurid moment at Turn 9 he snatched top spot from the Ducati rider to claim pole position with a lap record of 2:02.135, beating Dovizioso by 0.339s. Lorenzo will complete the front row of the grid, with Valentino Ros- si edging out British pair Crutchlow and Scott Redding for fourth posi- tion. Andrea Iannone made it out of Q2 and ultimately placed seventh, ahead of Aleix Espargaró and Tech 3 duo Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith. Danilo Petrucci was 11th while Suzuki rookie Maverick Viñales was 12th fastest. Héctor Barberá narrowly missed out on a slot in Q2 and will line up from 13th place on the grid, ahead of Stefan Bradl, Yonny Hernández and Mike di Meglio. Eugene Laverty will start from 17th position, while Hiroshi Aoya- ma – standing in for Dani Pedrosa – was a lowly 18th on the factory Honda. Jack Miller placed 19th, ahead of Loris Baz, Karel Abraham and Nicky Hayden, the latter starting his 200th MotoGP race this weekend. Álvaro Bautista was 23rd fastest, while Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri will round out the grid. Darren Abdilla wins BOV Malta National IOM Championship DARREN Abdilla is the winner of the 2014 Malta National Champi- onship in the International One Metre (IOM) Class organised by the Malta Model Boats Association. The International One Metre Class (IOM) is a class of radio con- trolled sailing boats that harmo- nises the size and various specifi- cations of the boat with the aim to enhance the sailing abilities of the racer as well as his ability to adjust the set-up of the boat to the wind and sea conditions on the day. The BOV Malta National IOM Championship was held within the Malta International IOM Open, which f leet boasted the 2013 world champion Zvonko Jelacic (Croatia), the winner of the event. Abdilla was the top performing Maltese sailor. He even placed fourth over- all among the f leet sailors of in- ternational calibre whilst Robert DeLeonardo placed second among the Maltese sailors. John Paul Abela, Manager Media and Community Relations at Bank of Valletta presented the trophies to Abdilla and De Leonardo. "This is the fourth consecutive year in which Bank of Valletta has been associated with this event and we are pleased to witness an ever-im- proving level of racing in a healthy sporting environment." John Paul Abela Presenting winners trophy to Darren Abdilla