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Phillip Island MotoGP: Marc Marquez on pole, Cal Crutchlow second

Marc Marquez took pole for MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island ahead of an incredible effort from Cal Crutchlow

Practice pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo completed the front row, with Dani Pedrosa behind Bradley Smith in fifth despite having to come through Q1.

Pedrosa's elevation from Q1 was swiftly achieved, as he set the fastest time in the session by a second just before a brief rain shower stopped anyone else improving.

The Spaniard then put his Honda on provisional pole in Q2, which took place on a completely dry track as the rain had quickly passed.

Lorenzo deposed Pedrosa by two tenths of a second when the second runs started, but he was on pole for only moments before Crutchlow beat him by 0.008s.

Both would be denied by 2014 champion Marquez. The Honda rider came through 0.234s faster than Crutchlow to secure his 12th pole of the year.

Although two minutes still remained, no one had sufficient tyre life to produce better laps, with Lorenzo hinting at a pole lap in his first two sectors before fading.

Second for Crutchlow was his best qualifying result since joining Ducati, beating the previous high of fifth on the Assen and Aragon grids.

Smith jumped to fourth for Tech 3 Yamaha late on, just 0.006s off a front row position, pushing Pedrosa back to fifth.

Valentino Rossi had a quiet session and could only manage eighth, behind Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone. Motegi pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso was back in 10th.

Hiroshi Aoyama capitalised on the shower to join Pedrosa in moving on from Q1 and will start 12th.

Riders caught out by the rain included Alvaro Bautista and Yonny Hernandez, who ended up 17th and 18th.

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m28.408s -
2 Cal Crutchlow Ducati Ducati 1m28.642s 0.234s
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m28.650s 0.242s
4 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m28.656s 0.248s
5 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m28.675s 0.267s
6 Aleix Espargaro Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1m28.866s 0.458s
7 Andrea Iannone Pramac Racing Ducati 1m28.887s 0.479s
8 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m28.956s 0.548s
9 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m28.968s 0.560s
10 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m29.088s 0.680s
11 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m29.155s 0.747s
12 Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m29.955s 1.547s
13 Scott Redding Gresini Racing Honda 1m30.280s -
14 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1m30.348s -
15 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m30.542s -
16 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 1m30.569s -
17 Alvaro Bautista Gresini Racing Honda 1m30.635s -
18 Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing Ducati 1m30.729s -
19 Danilo Petrucci IodaRacing Project ART/Aprilia 1m30.812s -
20 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Avintia/Kawasaki 1m31.431s -
21 Michael Laverty Paul Bird Motorsport PBM/Aprilia 1m31.492s -
22 Broc Parkes Paul Bird Motorsport PBM/Aprilia 1m31.730s -
23 Alex de Angelis Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1m32.595s -

Format: Q1 sets 13th-23rd, top two into Q2, which sets 1st-12th

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