---
title: "Marquez takes Phillip Island pole as Dovizioso struggles"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/10/21/marquez-takes-phillip-island-pole-as-dovizioso-struggles/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2017-10-21T05:08:55Z"
modified: "2017-10-21T05:08:55Z"
---

# Marquez takes Phillip Island pole as Dovizioso struggles

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez took pole for the Australian Grand Prix, while title rival Andrea Dovizioso struggled to 11th.

Despite the wet start to the day for third practice, conditions had improved significantly by the time qualifying got underway.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/863428922.jpg)

Marquez spent his first stint in Q2 providing unintended assistance to Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone and home hero Jack Miller, with the former of the pair setting the early benchmark of 1m29.265s.

The Honda rider was able to outpace the chasing duo behind him with a 1m28.884s, which stood for the next eight minutes before Motegi pole man Johann Zarco took over top spot in the closing moments with a 1m28.744s.

The Tech3 rider’s time at the top was short-lived on this occasion, however, as Yamaha stablemate Maverick Vinales on the factory YZR-M1 edged ahead with a 1m28.719s.

Clear of the hard-charging Iannone and Miller for his final lap, Marquez lit up the timing screens and blitzed the field with a 1m28.386s for his seventh pole of the season. Vinales and Zarco completed the front row.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/863429240.jpg)

Iannone and Miller head row two, while Pol Espargaro secured KTM’s best-ever qualifying result in sixth ahead of Q1 pacesetter Valentino Rossi and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Bradley Smith followed Rossi through into Q2 on the second KTM for the second race in a row, and went on to qualify ninth. Cal Crutchlow completed the top 10 after crashing at the Honda hairpin in the final four minutes having just posted a fastest first sector of the session.

Dovizioso struggled for pace for the entirety of Q2, but looked set to lift himself up the order after entering the second sector on his final lap fastest of all.

However, the Italian – who trails Marquez by 11 points after winning a week ago in Japan – was unable to maintain his pace for the rest of the lap and ended up 1.1 seconds off the pace in 11th. Dani Pedrosa completed the top 12.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/863419444.jpg)

Alex Rins came close to securing a spot in Q2 for the second race in a row, but his 1m29.824s was just over a tenth shy of what he needed to get into the top two and will start 13th from Tito Rabat and Karel Abraham.

Jorge Lorenzo battled through the pain of a sprained left ankle sustained in a fast crash at Turn 8 in third practice, and was the early pacesetter in Q2.

However, the Ducati rider steadily slipped back through the order and was unable to improve on 16th when the chequered flag fell. It’s the Spaniard’s worst qualifying since he was 22nd at Assen.

Loris Baz put himself between the GP17-mounted duo of Lorenzo and Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci, who crashed at MG corner in the closing minute of the session.

Hector Barber, Scott Redding, Tech3 stand-in Broc Parkes, Alvaro Bautista and Sam Lowes complete the 23-rider field.