Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/717204
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 AUGUST 2016 49 MARC Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has taken pole position in Brno, as the points leader in the ti- tle fight left it late to overcome an ominous-looking Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in the final minutes of Q2. Marquez, who topped Friday but had since been overshadowed by compatriot Lor- enzo in FP3 and FP4, pulled out an incredible laptime in the session – including overtaking the provi- sional polesitter's Yamaha team- mate Valentino Rossi into the final corner in a spectacular move. Pole- man last time out Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) completes the front row in P3. Marquez had an orange first sec- tor after Lorenzo's second attempt saw him move further clear at the top, before the timing screens went red in sector 2 and 3 – with the fi- nal part of the track the decider. With two tenths to play with, Mar- quez came up behind the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Pol Espargaro and Movistar Yamaha of Valentino Rossi at the final corner – and slot- ted between the two through the final apex. Jorge Lorenzo has shown sublime form all Saturday in Brno, including proving the first man to break the lap record in FP3, and also topped FP4 before just losing the pole posi- tion to compatriot and champion- ship rival Marc Marquez. Lorenzo's race pace looks ominous however, with memories of Brno 2015 also sure to be high in rivals' minds. Andrea Iannone had an up and down Saturday before just pipping Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ec- star) to complete the front row, with a technical issue earlier in the day and a crash. Iannone was the last man to cross the line and had to wheel the bike back up pitlane to parc ferme after not having realized how far up the grid he had qualified. Behind Espargaro in P5 was Hec- tor Barbera (Avintia Racing), who recovered from a difficult FP3 for a great qualifying result. The Span- iard beat 9-time world champion Valentino Rossi to the top 5, as the Italian completes row 2 in P6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a number of issues in the session and got out of sync as he changed the front tyre and tried to make the best of the limited time, but managed a P7 result ahead of the second Team Suzuki Ecstar machine of Maverick Viñales. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa completes the third row in P9 after moving up from Q1, ahead of LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow to round out the top ten. Marquez' pole takes the Spaniard equal on pole positions with Mov- istar Yamaha MotoGP pairing Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, with the top 3 men in the title fight now - incredibly - tied on a record 63 pole positions each across all classes… sharing the honours, for once, at the top of the table. Sport MOTOGP FORMULA 1 ϮϬϭϳD>d^WZ^/EzK&d,KhE/>K&d,hZKWE hE/KE WZKs/^/KEK&K&&/&hZE/dhZDKsZ^ E^dKZ'&/>/dz^Zs/^ dŚĞWĂƌůŝĂŵĞŶƚĂƌLJ^ĞĐƌĞƚĂƌŝĂƚĨŽƌhWƌĞƐŝĚĞŶĐLJϮϬϭϳĂŶĚh&ƵŶĚƐ͕ǁŝƚŚŝŶ ƚŚĞDŝŶŝƐƚƌLJĨŽƌƵƌŽƉĞĂŶĨĨĂŝƌƐĂŶĚ/ŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƚŝŽŶŽĨƚŚĞůĞĐƚŽƌĂů DĂŶŝĨĞƐƚŽ͕ŶŽƚŝĨŝĞƐƚŚĂƚĂƉĞƌŝŽĚĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚĨŽƌƚŚĞƉƌŽǀŝƐŝŽŶŽĨŽĨĨŝĐĞ ĨƵƌŶŝƚƵƌĞŵŽǀĞƌƐĂŶĚƐƚŽƌĂŐĞĨĂĐŝůŝƚLJƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐin relation to Malta's WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶĐLJŽĨƚŚĞŽƵŶĐŝůŽĨƚŚĞhϮϬϭϳŚĂƐďĞĞŶŝƐƐƵĞĚ͘ dŚĞĚŽĐƵŵĞŶƚƐĂƌĞĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞƚŽĚŽǁŶůŽĂĚŽŶůŝŶĞĨƌŽŵ ǁǁǁ͘ĞƚĞŶĚĞƌƐ͘ŐŽǀ͘ŵƚ Stunning Marquez races to record Brno pole Championship leader overtakes Rossi in the final corner to take a record pole position Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Pol Espargaro 2016 Czech Republic MotoGP Grand Prix - Qualifying Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 01:54.596 7 2. J. Lorenzo Yamaha 01:54.849 7 3. A. Iannone Ducati 01:55.227 7 4. A. Espargaro Suzuki 01:55.324 7 5. H. Barbera Avintia 01:55.437 7 6. V. Rossi Yamaha 01:55.509 7 7. A. Dovizioso Ducati 01:55.748 6 8. M. Vinales Suzuki 01:55.787 6 9. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 01:55.841 7 10. C. Crutchlow LCR 01:55.930 7 11. B. Smith Tech 3 01:56.115 7 12. P. Espargaro Tech 3 01:56.522 7 Renault basing 2017 car on 2015 model RENAULT'S 2017 Formula 1 chal- lenger will be based on last year's model, as opposed to its current RS16 chassis, Team Principal Frédé- ric Vasseur has outlined. Renault returned to F1 as a works team for 2016 after a protracted takeover of Lotus, powered by Mer- cedes in 2015, which has compro- mised its car and engine package. As a result, Renault switched focus to 2017 – and the regulation over- haul – early in the season, and Vas- seur has revealed that the outfit is using the 2015 design as a base. "Yes, we do consider 2017 a good opportunity for us," Vasseur told the official Formula 1 website, when asked about abandoning 2016 devel- opment earlier than its rivals. "Right now we are using a 2015-de- signed car that was built around a Mercedes engine, so when switch- ing to a Renault engine [for 2016] we suffered from the very beginning. "We are not building the 2017 car based on the 2016 one, but on the 2015 car – that is a lot of catching- up! "But as I just said, 2017 holds a good opportunity for us. Yes, right now it is a bit stressful to manage such a huge gap based on the struc- ture that we have - but we are work- ing hard on it." Renault currently holds ninth in the standings on six points, 22 adrift of Haas and five clear of Manor, and Vasseur admits the team is unlikely to gain any positions in 2016. "Well, the pecking order seems quite clear," he went on to comment. "It will be difficult to change it, as we are not working on the car [for the rest of the season], so unless a gift comes from God, I don't know how we should jump ahead."