Vinales grabs Valencia pole as Marquez crashes

Valencia, November 17: Maverick Vinales claimed pole position at the Valencia Grand Prix as champion Marc Marquez suffered a nasty-looking shoulder injury.

Marquez – who secured a fifth MotoGP world title in Japan last month – had impressed in the final practice session on Saturday, but his qualifying was hampered by an early crash.

Early in Q2 the Spaniard slid off his Repsol Honda at Turn 4, with the impact on the tarmac and subsequent roll into the gravel leaving him grabbing his left shoulder.

History: 6 manufacturers inside the top 8 in Valencia Q2@maverickmack25 claims pole after graduating from Q1 to head @Rins42 and @AndreaDovizioso as @marcmarquez93 dislocates shoulder, with the top 8 split by 0.318#MotoGP | #ValenciaGP 📰 https://t.co/llP2QApfor pic.twitter.com/tbxTP7PQrW

— MotoGP™🇪🇸🏁 (@MotoGP) November 17, 2018

A dazed Marquez eventually made his way back to the pits for a medical check and returned to the session but he could only claim fifth place on Sunday's grid.

That opened the door for Vinales to take top spot, the Movistar Yamaha rider going six hundredths quicker than Alex Rins in the battle for pole.

QP P1 Yeeees!🔥 Minnie is with me ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6nGYvW7bfu

— Maverick Viñales (@maverickmack25) November 17, 2018

Vinales – who had come through Q1 earlier in the day – and Rins are joined on the front row by Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, while Danilo Petrucci and Pol Espargaro will start either side of Marquez.

Provisional classification

1. Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) 1:31.312secs 2. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) 1:31.380s 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1:31.392s 4. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) 1:31.414s 5. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 1:31.442s 6. Pol Espargaro (KTM Factory Racing) 1:34.577s 7. Andrea Iannone (Suzuki Ecstar) 1:31.629s 8. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) 1:31.630s 9. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1:32.140 10. Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) 1:32.145s

(With inputs from OPTA)