Aprilia's Bezzecchi claims pole at Thailand Grand Prix despite late crash

(Corrects Fernandez's team in paragraph 8 to Trackhouse, not Aprilia; Fixes slug to replace TV with PIX)

Feb 28 : Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi secured pole position for the season-opening Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday despite crashing at the end of qualifying in Buriram. 

The Italian, quickest in pre-season testing and in every session he completed this weekend, suffered his second fall of the day when he went down under braking at the final corner. 

His earlier lap, however, was enough to keep him on pole by 0.035 seconds ahead of reigning champion Marc Marquez, who grabbed a late second place for Ducati. 

"I am okay," Bezzecchi said, although noting some pain from the explosion of his airbag. 

"A small mistake at the end, but the time was good enough to keep pole. It will be tough today and tomorrow, but we will try to fight with the top guys."

Marquez, who had slipped to seventh after the opening runs, responded strongly on his second to challenge Bezzecchi for top spot before settling for the front-row start.

"It was tough, especially because I didn't feel good on the first tyre," Marquez said. “I felt much better on the second one and then I attacked."

Trackhouse's Raul Fernandez completed the front row, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Racing), Jorge Martin (Aprilia) and Pedro Acosta (KTM) taking fourth to sixth.

"Today I felt more comfortable than yesterday and I could do what I wanted to do," Fernandez said. "A big thanks to my team - we are in a good position." 

Marc's brother, Alex, was seventh for Gresini Ducati, while Marc's Ducati teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, failed to advance from the first qualifying session and will start 13th.