Alex Marquez “wasn’t expecting a 37.5”, Marc admits brother “has more” in Catalunya qualifying

Alex Marquez surprised even himself by slashing over half-a-second from the Catalunya lap record on his way to a first MotoGP pole in two and half years.

Eager to correct a recent lull in an otherwise dream season, Alex had already edged Marc for race pace on the medium rear tyre on Friday, then was fast again on a used soft rear in final practice.

Especially strong in the final corners, qualifying saw Alex snatch provisional pole during the opening run, then unleash a 1m 37. 536s to settle the contest on his final outing.

“For us it’s special and really important to be on the front row today, because we’ve had a really good pace all weekend but qualifying can [decide] everything for the weekend,” Alex Marquez said.

“We did a really good first time attack. And for the second one, I said ‘if we put everything together we can improve a little bit’. I was not expecting to make that 37.5s, honestly. I was expecting 37.7-37.6s maximum.

“Happy, we put everything together, but now come the most important moments. The Sprint and long race where the points are there on the table. So we need to really concentrate.

“I'm enjoying this weekend a lot and I will try to go for it.”

Alex was the last rider to defeat Marc in a MotoGP race, at the Silverstone Sprint in May.

The factory Ducati rider had already flagged Alex as a major threat before the weekend, but also found himself behind six other riders - led by Honda's Joan Mir - in final practice.

While Marc salvaged a front row in qualifying, he looks to have a fight on his hands against the likes of Alex and KTM's Pedro Acosta (fifth) over a Sprint distance.

“The front row was the main target,” said Marc. “I already understood yesterday and this morning that Alex has a bit more than us, especially in T4. He's super fast on the last two corners.

“But let's see, we start in the front row, so this will be a big help for the race. And apart from that, the confidence is getting better and better. But as we know here, I'm struggling a bit more than other circuits.”

Surprise of the session was Fabio Quartararo.

The Yamaha rider had been first to break the old lap record as he topped Qualifying 1, then split the Marquez brothers in Q2.

“To be honest, it’s a great feeling to come back on the front row, to enjoy especially, it was a long time that I was not pushing my bike to the maximum,” said the 2021 world champion.

“We know that our pace is a little bit slower than the two brothers, but we will make our best to make a good start, good laps and also thanks to all the fans.”

Quartararo was among half-a-dozen riders, also including fellow former champion Mir, to be a match for the Marquezes in terms of raw speed on a soft rear tyre in final practice.

The question mark is who will be able to maintain that pace for all 12 laps.

The Sprint race starts at 3pm local time.