Spain's Marc Marquez prepares to depart from the pits with his Honda for free practice 4 ahead the Italian Moto GP Grand Prix at the Mugello race track on June 1, 2019 in Scarperia e San Piero. / AFP / Filippo MONTEFORTE
SCARPERIA, Italy: Titleholder Marc Marquez set a lap record at Mugello on his way to pole position for the Italian MotoGP on Saturday.
Marquez, who rides for Honda, timed 1 minute, 45.519 seconds at the end of qualifying to be 0.214 ahead of Fabio Quartararo on his Yamaha SRT.
Danilo Petrucci, who had earlier beaten Valentino Rossi's record at the circuit, was third fastest, 0.362 behind Marquez.
The top five riders all beat the Ducati rider's previous benchmark.
Five-time champion Marquez leads Andrea Dovizioso by eight points in the standings after three wins in the past four Grand Prix.
There was a disappointment for Rossi, last year's pole-sitter, who will start his home GP from 18th.
