Marquez starts in pole position in MotoGP Thailand
After passing through Q1 for the fourth time since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013, Marc Márquez starts from pole position for the 50th time in the class and the 78th time overall in his Grand Prix career.
He became the third rider to reach the milestone of 50 poles, after Mick Doohan (58) and Valentino Rossi (55).
Marc Márquez became the first ever rider since the qualifying format was introduced in 2013 to qualify on pole position after passing through Q1. On Sunday, he will be aiming to become the third rider to win a race after passing through Q1 along with Jack Miller (Assen – 2016) and Cal Crutchlow (Phillip Island – 2016).
Valentino Rossi has qualified in second, which is his best qualifying result since Brno and his fourth front row start of the season. Rossi will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time since Germany. The last time Yamaha had five successive races in the premier class without a podium finish was in 2003.
Andrea Dovizioso has qualified third and is the highest-placed Ducati rider, which is his second successive front row start.
Heading the second row on the grid is Maverick Viñales, which is his best qualifying result since he was third at Misano.
Top Independent Team rider Cal Crutchlow starts from fifth, which is the sixth successive time he has qualified on the second row of the grid.
Andrea Iannone has qualified in sixth, and it’s the sixth time this year he has started the race from the front two rows.
Dani Pedrosa starts from seventh and qualified in the top eight for only the second time since his front row start at Jerez. Pedrosa led the Official Test at Buriram in winter.
Johann Zarco is eighth and the second fastest Independent Team rider. This is Zarco’s best qualifying result since he was third at Silverstone and his best in dry conditions since he was sixth in Austria.
Danilo Petrucci, who is leading the Independent Team classification, completes the third row of the grid and is the second Ducati rider. It’s his worst qualifying performance since he was 11th in Assen.
Danilo Petrucci’s teammate Jack Miller starts from tenth for the second successive time.
Álex Rins is 11th on the grid, which is the ninth time this year he has qualified on the third row of the grid.
After joining Q2 directly for the fourth time in 2018, Alvaro Bautista, who is scheduled to start his 270th Grand Prix race, has qualified in 12th on the grid.
Bradley Smith, who is scheduled to start his 100th Grand Prix race in the premier class, is the highest-placed KTM rider in 15th on the grid. Smith is set to become the fifth British rider to reach the milestone of 100 premier class starts along with Cal Crutchlow, Jeremy McWilliams, Ron Haslam and Niall Mackenzie.
Moto2™
Lorenzo Baldassarri has qualified on pole position for the second time this year and on what is his 99th Grand Prix start, becoming the fifth Italian rider to qualify on pole position more than once in the Moto2™ class.
Álex Márquez starts from second on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was also second in Brno earlier this year. This is Márquez’ eighth front row start of 2018. He will be aiming to win his first race since Japan last year and to be the first Spanish winner this season.
Luca Marini has qualified on the front row for the first time since he was on pole position at the Czech GP. Marini will be aiming to win his first race on what is the 50thGrand Prix race of his career.
Heading the second row of the grid, Mattia Pasini scored his best qualifying result since he was third in San Marino, and it’s also his seventh top four of the season.
Miguel Oliveira starts from fifth, which is his best qualifying performance since he was the second fastest qualifier in Austria. This is the fourth time Oliveira has qualified on the first two rows this season.
Leader of the Championship Francesco Bagnaia has qualified in sixth, which is the 14th time he has started from the first two rows on the grid this year; his worst qualifying result being 15th in Argentina.
Augusto Fernández starts from ninth on the grid, which is the best qualifying result of his Grand Prix career.
Moto3™
Marco Bezzecchi has qualified on pole position for the second time this year, along with Austria, equalling Nicolò Bulega in fourth place on the list of Italian riders with most pole positions in the Moto3™ class. In addition, this is his third front row on what is the 36th start of his Grand Prix career.
This is the third pole position for KTM this season, equalling the number of pole positions they accumulated last year.
Jaume Masia has qualified in second on the grid for the second successive time, equalling his best qualifying result on his 18th start.
Kazuki Masaki completes the front row of the grid, which is the best qualifying result of his rookie season so far and the best from a Japanese rider since Tatsuki Suzuki was also third on the grid in Barcelona earlier this year.
With Marco Bezzecchi, Jaume Masia and Kazuki Masaki, this is the first all-KTM front row since the Czech GP.
Tony Arbolino was fourth fastest for the second successive time after the Aragón GP. Arbolino is also the highest placed Honda rider on the grid.
Niccoló Antonelli starts from fifth on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was fourth in Spain earlier this year. This is the third time this year he will start from the first two rows.
Darryn Binder completes the second row on the grid, which is his best qualifying result on what is the 61st Grand Prix start of his career.
Championship leader Jorge Martín, who is suffering with the fitness of his left hand, has qualified 13th, which is his only the second time this year he has failed to start from the front row along with Argentina.
