Marc Marquez claims fourth straight pole

Marc Marquez claimed his fourth successive Moto2 pole position in 2012 in front his home crowd at the Catalunya track near Barcelona this afternoon.

The Spaniard set a best time of 1.46.187 to deny compatriot Pol Espargaro by 0.195s.

Marquez is looking to bounce back from a crash in a rain-hit French Grand Prix last month and starts the 23-lap race trailing Espargaro by just a single point.

Fellow title contender and Le Mans winner Thomas Luthi completes the front row after he set a best time of 1.46.430.

That secured third by just 0.047s from Italian Andrea Iannone.

British rider Scott Redding will head the third row of the grid in seventh after setting a best time of 1.46.866.

That left him over 0.6s away from pole and somewhat disappointing after he had ended practice second quickest.

Tech 3 Racing rider Bradley Smith was only 13th quickest with a best time of 1.47.423. The Oxfordshire rider was also beaten by stand-in team-mate Jordi Torres, who is replacing the injured Xavier Simeon. Torres set a best time of 1.47.239 to finish just 0.124s behind experienced Alex de Angelis in 10th.

Gino Rea, making only his second appearance on the Suter frame, will start from 23rd on the grid after he set a best time of 1.48.041.