Marc Marquez breaks his own track record in qualifying for Aragon MotoGP

Marc Marquez has broken his own track record while taking pole position for Sunday's Aragon MotoGP.

The Spaniard bettered his own time at the 5.1 km MotorLand circuit, clocking 1 minute, 46.635 seconds on his Honda to secure a seventh pole of the season in Zaragoza.

He might have gone even better as he started his third run at blistering speed before losing it on the second turn, walking away unhurt from the accident.

"In the first run I felt very good and although I didn't push myself 100 per cent I felt I could improve," Marquez said.

"The time was a big surprise, the second lap I made a few mistakes and then on the final lap I tried to push myself to the maximum and it was too much."

Marquez, the two-time overall defending champion, leads the grid ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone.

Lorenzo said: "I have still got doubts in some areas and I'm not completely confident in braking.

"Marc was very fast but I got close to him in the end and to be on the front of the grid is good."

Points leader Valentino Rossi will start from sixth on the grid, behind Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.

Rossi, a seven-time former MotoGP champion, leads Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo by 23 points with four races left, while Marquez is third on 184 points.

Qualifying results:

1 M Marquez (Esp) Honda 1:46.635

2 J Lorenzo (Esp) Yamaha +0.108

3 A Iannone (Ita) Ducati +0.543

4 P Espargaro (Esp) Yamaha +0.699

5 D Pedrosa (Esp) Honda +0.722

6 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +0.857

7 A Espargaro (Esp) Suzuki +0.938

8 C Crutchlow (Gbr) Honda +0.939

9 D Petrucci (Ita) Ducati +1.140

10 B Smith (Gbr) Yamaha +1.195