Alex Marquez happy as he lines up 5th on Spielberg grid

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Franco Morbidelli and Álex Márquez are set to launch a double podium challenge at the Spielberg track in Austria tomorrow after both delivered career best Moto2 qualifying performances this afternoon.

Márquez will start on the middle of the second row of the grid after a lap of 1.29.702 placed him fifth at the end of qualifying. That superb performance beat his previous best Moto2 grid starting position of sixth at Motorland Aragon almost one year ago.

The 20-year-old has put in a tremendous amount of work in recent races to improve his qualifying performance and he got his reward today after improving by six places on his ranking at the end of practice earlier today.

Tomorrow’s race is the first Austrian Grand Prix since 1997 and it kicks off the second half of the 2016 World Championship campaign, with Morbidelli and Márquez completing the final nine races in just 14 weeks.

Álex Márquez: 5th – 1’29.702
“I am very satisfied with my performance today because we always have struggled a little in qualifying. But in the last races we have worked incredibly hard to improve my grid position and today showed it has paid off. It is a good feeling to get my best ever Moto2 qualifying and it gives me a real chance of getting away in the leading group in the race tomorrow. Qualifying on the second row also reduces the risk of being caught in any trouble at the tight first turn, so I must take profit of this with a good start. I have a really good feeling with the bike and if I can improve my pace in the third sector then I am confident I can be very competitive in the race.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing