MotoGP Argentina: Marquez eases to second straight pole

Marc Marquez cruised to pole position during qualifying for Argentine round of the MotoGP World Championship on Saturday, ahead of Suzuki's Aleix

Marc Marquez will be looking to build on the momentum of his dominant win at Austin and seems to be doing so with pole position for the Argentina GP. (PIC: Red Bull Content Pool)

Suzuki\'s Aleix Espargaro was fastest over the first two practice sessions and will line up second on the grid behind Marquez. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Ducati\'s Andrea Iannone kept the Italian marque\'s encouraging performance in qualifying for MotoGP events going with third on the grid. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Marc Marquez cruised to pole position during qualifying for Argentine round of the MotoGP World Championship on Saturday, ahead of Suzuki's Aleix Espargaro.

While a pole position by Marquez was more or less a given, a front row start for Espargaro’s caught many by surprise, even those who had been glued to practice in the build up to qualifying.

Another unexpected outcome was Ducati’s inability to mount a challenge for pole position, with Andrea Iannone only third fastest and Qatar pole sitter Andrea Dovizioso languishing down in sixth place.

Meanwhile, Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo set identical times and will start the race from second row of the grid, alongside the aforementioned Dovizioso.

Danilo Petrucci - the sole Pramac rider competing in Q2 - qualified seventh ahead of a disappointed Valentino Rossi.

Maverick Vinales failed to replicate the heroics of his more experienced teammate and qualified ninth ahead of Bradley Smith(Tech 3 Yamaha), Scott Redding(Marc VDS) and Hector Barbera(Avintia). Smith and Barbera

MotoGP: Qualifying results(Top 10)

Marc Marquez (Honda) 1m37.802s
Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki) 1m38.316s +0.514s
Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1m38.467s +0.665s
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) 1m38.485s +0.683s
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1m38.485s +0.683s
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1m38.520s +0.718s
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac) 1m38.786s +0.984s
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1m38.890s +1.088s
Maverick Viñales (Suzuki) 1m39.187s +1.385s
Bradley Smith (Yamaha Tech 3) 1m39.197s +1.395s

Moto3: Oliveira takes second career pole

In Moto3 class, it was KTM Ajo rider Miguel Oliveira who pipped Britain’s Danny Kent in a last gasp attempt to take pole position. The duo were separated by just five hundredths of a second in an ultra-close field.

Italy’s Niccolo Antonelli will start alongside the aforementioned riders on the front row of the grid with Vazquez, Vinales, and Hanika filling the second row. Juanfran Guevara was the lead rider astride a Mahindra bike in 12th place.

Moto3: Qualifying results(Top 10)