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Marc Marquez spoke of his pride at setting a new MotoGP pole record

By Allsports.com.gh
Sports News Marc Marquez spoke of his pride at setting a new MotoGP pole record
OCT 25, 2014 LISTEN

The Repsol Honda rider, crowned world champion for a second season running in Japan earlier this month, went fastest in Saturday's qualifying session at the Sepang International Circuit, having crashed earlier in the day in the final practise run.

Marquez will start from pole for a record 13th time in 2014 on Sunday - Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner previously jointly held the premier-class milestone.

But the Spaniard is taking nothing for granted after topping the timesheets ahead of team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

"I'm happy to have broken the record," said the 21-year-old.

"Maybe pole positions are somewhat insignificant because they don't give you any points, but you achieve them by being the fastest rider over a single lap.

"That doesn't mean that you will be the fastest in the race, of course, so the most important thing is what happens [on Sunday]."

Andrea Iannone, meanwhile, has pulled out of the race in order to return to Italy for a scan on an arm injury suffered during a crash on Friday after making contact with Marquez.

The Pramac Racing rider is still hopeful of competing in Valencia in a fortnight when the 2014 season comes to a close.

Iannone said: "I'm not at 100 per cent and I can't control the bike fully, so I prefer to try only in the practice because the risk is very high.

"The power in my arm is really not there. I don't have a good feeling with the bike. It could be really dangerous.

"I am very sorry to skip this race because I wanted to finish the season well."

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