Marc Marquez secured pole position for the Catalan Grand Prix on Saturday with a stunning lap around the shorter Formula 1 circuit.
The Honda rider posted a 1m43.589s lap to go almost half a second quicker than reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, who starts second on the grid for Yamaha.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa will start in the final position on the front-row, with a lap just over two-tenths slower than Lorenzo.
Marquez started the session with a blistering lap which would go unchallenged until the final few seconds, but as the checkered flag fell, Marquez put in his best lap to become the only rider to dip below the 1'44 mark, taking his third pole of 2016 – his previous two of which have been converted into victory.
Yamaha's riders admitted to some struggles in the final sector – following the switch to the F1-spec layout which features a slow chicane – resulting in second for Lorenzo and fifth for Valentino Rossi.
Slotting in between the Yamaha pair is Pedrosa and Avintia's Hector Barbera in third and fouth respectively.
Maverick Vinales completes the second row in sixth, just two-thousandths behind Rossi – with the top six covered by just seven-tenths.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) formed the remainder of the top ten.
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