The Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider finished in the top ten despite an early session crash with teammate Joan Mir set to start from fourteenth in the Australian Grand Prix.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Alex Marquez and Joan Mir completed qualifying for the Australian GP in dry but windy and heavily overcast conditions conditions at Phillip Island.

Alex Marquez was second fastest in FP3 but completed only five laps in qualifying. Marquez was fourth fastest 15 minutes into the session when he touched the back of Steven Odendaal’s bike over the top of Lukey Heights (Turn 9). Marquez slid off onto the grass and recovered to return to the garage but was feeling dizzy and after checks by Dr Charte, Marquez took no further part in the session as a precaution. He qualified ninth with a best lap of 1’34.007.

Joan Mir completed the morning FP3 session in 13th position in his rookie Moto2 appearance at Phillip Island. Despite strong practice pace the windy conditions in qualifying were not easy for Mir and he will start the race from 14th after posting a best time for 1’34.149.

The warm up session will be at 11:10am –local time– with the 25 lap race, round 17 of the Moto2 World Championship, scheduled for 2:20pm.

Alex Marquez: 9th, 1’34.007, +0.639, 24 laps, 106 km

“I was riding very fast and aiming for the first row”
 

“It was shame with the crash because I was riding very fast and aiming for the first row of the grid. With the crash I was a bit stunned so as a precaution we decided that I would not return to the track for the remainder of qualifying. Tomorrow morning we will again check my physical condition to see if I am ready to take part in the race.”

Joan Mir: 14th, 1’34.149 +0.781, 40 laps, 177 km

“If I was two tenths faster I would have been in the top five”
 

“I will start from fourteenth again like it did in Japan but it is really close, if I was two tenths faster then I am in the top five but this is Moto2. Riding alone I could not improve my lap time and I struggled with the wind, I lose a lot of confidence in these conditions. But my pace in free practice was good so now we will focus on the race. The first laps here will be crazy and I hope I can fight to be in the lead group of riders who go away at the front.”

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