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56 maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 Sports MOTOGP Marquez lights up Valencia for pole The Championship leader takes pole despite a crash – with Dovizioso facing a fight from ninth MARC Márquez claimed pole po- sition, his eighth of the year, for the title-deciding MotoGP race at Va- lencia, despite crashing during his second Q2 run. Márquez went quickest early on before storming to a 1:29.897 on his second lap at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, which remained unbeaten across the remainder of the 15-minute session. Márquez tried to beat his own benchmark on his second run but crashed through Turn 4. He walked away uninjured, having restrained himself against kicking his stricken bike in the gravel trap. Title rival Andrea Dovizioso, who must win Sunday's race to stand a chance of taking the title, was only ninth fastest, meaning he will round out the third row of the grid. Tech 3's Johann Zarco emerged as Márquez's primary opponent as he finished 0.349s behind the Repsol Honda rider, while Andrea Iannone delivered on his FP1 pace to claim third. Jorge Lorenzo was initially Márquez's closest challenger but crashed heavily on the entry to Turn 14; he returned to action on his spare bike but was unable to improve. Dani Pedrosa took fifth on the other Repsol Honda machine, in front of Ducati tester Michele Pi- rro and Movistar Yamaha's Valen- tino Rossi. Aleix Espargaró clocked the eighth-best time for Aprilia before he suffered an off at the final cor- ner, bringing his session to an early end. Suzuki's Álex Rins finished just 0.011s down on Dovizioso as he rounded out the top 10, with KTM's Pol Espargaró, who must start from the pits due to exceed- ing his engine allocation, in 11th spot. Marc VDS' Jack Miller finished at the foot of the times in Q2, hav- ing been another to crash out in the session. Maverick Viñales' dismal week- end continued as his poor practice pace meant he was forced into Q1. Viñales was unable to match the laps recorded by the Espargaró brothers and did not qualify for Q2, leaving him in 13th place on the grid, and he punched his bike in frustration after completing his lap. Marc VDS' Tito Rabat was a fine 14th though crashed at Turn 4, while Danilo Petrucci finished 15th for Pramac. LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow held one of the two progression spots after the first laps but crashed through Turn 10 while trying to improve and was shuffled down to 16th position. KTM duo Brad- ley Smith and (tester) Mika Kallio took 17th and 19th respectively, sandwiching Aspar's Karel Abra- ham, with Héctor Barberá (Avin- tia) and Álvaro Bautista (Aspar) next up. Scott Redding was 22nd for Pra- mac, in front of Loris Baz (Avintia) and Sam Lowes (Aprilia), the latter crashing during the closing stages. Tech 3 replacement rider Mi- chael van der Mark qualified at the rear of the 25-bike grid. Qualifying results - 2017 Valencian MotoGP Grand Prix Pos. Driver Team Time Laps 1. M. Márquez Repsol Honda 01:29.897 6 2. J. Zarco Tech 3 01:30.246 8 3. A. Iannone Suzuki 01:30.399 9 4. J. Lorenzo Ducati 01:30.460 5 5. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 01:30.589 9 6. M. Pirro Ducati 01:30.764 7 7. V. Rossi Yamaha 01:30.848 9 8. A. Espargaro Aprilia 01:30.857 8 9. A. Dovizioso Ducati 01:30.961 9 10. A. Rins Suzuki 01:30.972 9 11. P. Espargaro KTM 01:31.044 7 12. J. Miller Marc VDS 01:31.190 7 KTM's Espargaró hit with Valencia pit start KTM rider Pol Espargaró will start Mo- toGP's season-ending Valencian Grand Prix from the pit lane after exceeding his engine allocation. Under MotoGP regulations, riders are permitted to use seven engines over the course of the campaign, though KTM – and Aprilia – are allowed nine, as part of their technical concessions. KTM has made several engine and chas- sis changes during its maiden campaign in the premier class, as it bids to move up the pecking order. While Espargaró still has four engines left with suitable mileage available, the outfit is unable to install any of them into the Spaniard's current chassis, due to the revisions to the RC16. As a result, it has to take on a new engine – a tenth of the campaign – meaning that Espargaró must start today's race from the pit lane. Espargaró holds 16th place in the cham- pionship, having scored points across the last six races, finishing between ninth and 11th on each occasion.