Marc Marquez secures home Moto2 pole at Jerez

The Spaniard broke clear of a group of six riders, all of whom had been trading fastest times, with a 1m43.355s just under 20 minutes from the session's end.

It was always likely that would be bettered, and so it proved as Marquez twice went faster, shaving more than three tenths off his benchmark.

That proved instrumental in securing pole, as moments later Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Kalex) got within eight hundredths of Marquez's new best, earning himself second in the process.

Thomas Luthi - who beat Marquez to pole in Qatar - was also in contention until losing the front end of his bike mid-way through his flying lap.

He ended fourth as a result, Pol Espargaro (Pons Kalex) taking the final spot on the front row.

Marc VDS's Mika Kallio and Claudio Corti (Italtrans Kalex) took a share of the second row, ahead of Esteve Rabat (Pons Kalex), Mike di Meglio (Speed Master) and Randy Krummenacher (Switzerland Kalex).

Johann Zarco, pacesetter for much of practice, ended up 10th fastest.

Scott Redding, like Luthi a late faller in qualifying, was 12th fastest ahead of Qatar runner-up Andrea Iannone.

Pos  Rider                  Team/Bike              Time       Gap
 1.  Marc Marquez           Monlau Suter           1m43.005s 
 2.  Takaaki Nakagami       Italtrans Kalex        1m43.085s  + 0.080s
 3.  Pol Espargaro          Pons Kalex             1m43.273s  + 0.268s
 4.  Thomas Luthi           Paddock Suter          1m43.310s  + 0.305s
 5.  Mika Kallio            Marc VDS Kalex         1m43.367s  + 0.362s
 6.  Claudio Corti          Italtrans Kalex        1m43.396s  + 0.391s
 7.  Esteve Rabat           Pons Kalex             1m43.651s  + 0.646s
 8.  Mike di Meglio         Speed Master Speed Up  1m43.778s  + 0.773s
 9.  Randy Krummenacher     Switzerland Kalex      1m43.858s  + 0.853s
10.  Johann Zarco           JIR Motobi             1m43.959s  + 0.954s
11.  Alex de Angelis        Forward Suter          1m44.052s  + 1.047s
12.  Scott Redding          Marc VDS Kalex         1m44.144s  + 1.139s
13.  Andrea Iannone         Speed Master Speed Up  1m44.204s  + 1.199s
14.  Max Neukirchner        Kiefer Kalex           1m44.212s  + 1.207s
15.  Dominique Aegerter     Technomag-CIP Suter    1m44.223s  + 1.218s
16.  Toni Elias             Aspar Suter            1m44.254s  + 1.249s
17.  Xavier Simeon          Tech 3                 1m44.308s  + 1.303s
18.  Simone Corsi           Ioda FTR               1m44.354s  + 1.349s
19.  Bradley Smith          Tech 3                 1m44.406s  + 1.401s
20.  Ricard Cardus          Arguinano AJR          1m44.532s  + 1.527s
21.  Roberto Rolfo          Technomag-CIP Suter    1m44.640s  + 1.635s
22.  Yuki Takahashi         Forward Suter          1m44.719s  + 1.714s
23.  Gino Rea               Gresini Moriwaki       1m45.095s  + 2.090s
24.  Angel Rodriguez        SAG FTR                1m45.309s  + 2.304s
25.  Julian Simon           Avintia FTR            1m45.538s  + 2.533s
26.  Axel Pons              Pons Kalex             1m45.607s  + 2.602s
27.  Alexander Lundh        MZ FTR                 1m45.834s  + 2.829s
28.  Nicolas Terol          Aspar Suter            1m45.961s  + 2.956s
29.  Anthony West           QMMF Moriwaki          1m46.117s  + 3.112s
30.  Ratthapark Wilairot    Gresini Moriwaki       1m46.211s  + 3.206s
31.  Elena Rosell           QMMF Moriwaki          1m47.284s  + 4.279s
32.  Marco Colandrea        SAG FTR                1m47.304s  + 4.299s