Marc Marquez beats Valentino Rossi to claim superb British Grand Prix pole

Bengaluru, August 24: FIM MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez stormed to pole position at the British Grand Prix, beating Valentino Rossi with a blistering lap in the final seconds of qualifying.

The Repsol Honda rider claimed his fourth consecutive pole and eighth from 12 races in the 2019 season with a track-record time of 1:58.168 at Silverstone, which was a stunning 0.428seconds quicker than Rossi.

Jack Miller celebrated his new contract with Pramac Racing by producing an impressive effort to join the two MotoGP icons on the front row of the grid for Sunday's race.

A 60th career pole for five-time world champion Marquez means he is in a strong position to extend his lead in this year's standings, while title rival Andrea Dovizioso – who trails him by 58 points - was down in seventh.

Rookie sensation and qualifying specialist Fabio Quartararo had topped the timesheets in practice but had to settle for fourth position, finishing narrowly ahead of Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales.

Franco Morbidelli and Cal Crutchlow join Dovizioso, winner of a dramatic race last time out in Austria, on the third row.

Danilo Petrucci, who is third in the championship, was a poor 11th in the second factory Ducati bike, 1.319s off the pace.

Dovizioso and Rins had to come through Q1 after falling short of the top 10 after FP3, but comfortably beat the rest of the field to join the 12-man battle in the second session.

But Q2 saw Marquez impressively beat the rest of the field, with under two tenths separating the closely matched chasing pack of Rossi, Miller, Quartararo, Rins, Vinales and Dovizioso.

Jorge Lorenzo, the Repsol Honda team-mate of Marquez, will start the race in 21st position on his return from injury.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION 1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda): 1:58.168 2. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha): +0.428s 3. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing): +0.434s 4. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha): +0.444s 5. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar): +0.502s 6. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha): +0.594s 7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati): +0.594s 8. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha): +0.928s 9. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda): +1.075s 10. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda): +1.259s 11. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati): +1.319s 12. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing): +1.452s