New Jersey and Mexico expected to join F1 family in 2014

Championship leader Marquez on pole once more in Aragon

ALCANIZ (SPAIN): World championship leader Marc Marquez claimed his seventh pole position of the season at the Aragon Grand Prix yesterday ahead of title rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

Marquez, who has a 34-point lead over his two compatriots, sealed pole with a stunning lap of 1:47.804 to edge out defending world champion Lorenzo by just one hundredth of a second.

“It was a very hard fought qualification,” 20year-old Marquez told Spanish TV station Telecinco.

“On the second lap with new tyres I was able to get a bit more and lower my time to give me the pole, but tomorrow (Sunday) is what is important and where we will get points for the championship.

“We need to try and have a great race in front of our fans. It will be important to manage the tyres well.”

There was frustration for Lorenzo as he had provisionally taken the lead seconds before Marquez made his surge for the line.

However, having come from behind Marquez to win the past two races in Britain and San Marino he is still confident of success today.

“I am very happy because the truth is I didn’t expect a 1:47.00 lap, to do that on this circuit is incredible.

“I made a slight error on the first corner which lost me a few tenths but second place is very good for tomorrow.”

Indeed the times set by Marquez and Lorenzo smashed Casey Stoner’s previous track record by eight tenths of a second as six riders in total broke the Australian’s time set back in 2011.

Pedrosa had been the first to break the record as he set the pace early on and he was disappointed not to have gone faster in his second lap than in his first.

“After the first lap I had a good time and I hoped to go a bit better in the second, but I couldn’t.

“In any case the front row is good and we need to fight in the race tomorrow (Sunday).”

There was a familiar feeling for seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi as he qualified fourth behind the Spanish trio and will start on the second row in fourth alongside Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista. — AFP DUBROVNIK (Croatia): New Jersey and Mexico were included on a 22-race Formula One World Championship calendar for 2014 on Friday but will need to be confirmed.

The sport’s governing body, the FIA, agreed the extended schedule at a World Council meeting in Dubrovnik.

But the street race in New Jersey, the return of F1 to Mexico as well as the South Korean Grand Prix are listed as provisional pending agreements with promoters.

The event in New Jersey, with the New York skyline providing a spectacular backdrop, will be completely new as will the Russian Grand Prix which will run around the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The calendar for the 2014 world Formula One championship was announced by the FIA at a World Council meeting on Friday.

The Sepang race in Malaysia will be the second leg of the event on March 30. — AFP