MotoGP Austin: Marquez takes superb pole despite bike problems

Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole position for the Austin round of MotoGP world championship on Saturday, despite encountering issues with one of his

Marc Marquez\'s pole position for Honda was not without drama as mechanical issues meant scrambling on to a new bike in the dying moments of the qualifying session to retain the advantage he had throughout practice and leading up to the problem. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Andrea Dovizioso stuck his Ducati in second and will be hoping to improve on his fighting second place in Qatar. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole position for the Austin round of MotoGP world championship on Saturday, despite encountering issues with one of his bikes during the final few minutes of qualifying.

After the first runs in Q2, Marquez held provisional pole but his position at the front of the field came into question after the Spaniard was forced to park his bike along the pit straight with mechanical issues.

The 22 year old then climbed the pit wall, sprinted to the Honda garage, and set the fastest lap in his second bike to take pole position for tomorrow’s race.

Meanwhile, Qatar pole sitter Andrea Dovizioso qualified second ahead of the Yamaha pairing of two-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo and race 1 winner Valentino Rossi.

Cal Crutchlow briefly led the timesheets in the LCR Honda but fell down to fifth place at the chequered flag as others improved their lap times.

Scott Redding took sixth for Marc VDS with Andrea Iannone in the second Ducati lining up seventh.

Both the factory Suzukis made it into the second leg of qualifying with Aleix Espargaro eighth and Moto2 graduate Maverick Vinales finishing in 12th place.

MotoGP - Qualifying 2 results

Marc Marque (Honda) 2m2.135s
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2m2.474s +0.339s
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2m2.540s +0.405s
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2m2.573s +0.438s
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) 2m2.613s +0.478s
Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0) 2m2.674s +0.539s
Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2m2.792s +0.657s
Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki) 2m2.869s +0.734s
Pol Espargaro (Yamaha Tech 3) 2m3.161s +1.026s
Bradley Smith (Yamaha Tech 3) 2m3.440s +1.305s
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) 2m3.741s +1.606s
Maverick Viñales (Suzuki) 2m3.754s +1.619s

Moto2: Simeon pips Lowes for pole

Gresini’s Xavier Simeon reigned supreme in Moto2, after Speed Up Racing rider Sam Lowes crashed in qualifying for the Austin Grand Prix.

Lowes looked set to take pole position after bettering his practice time but a crash relegated him down to second place, ahead of defending Moto2 champion Tito Rabat.

Johann Zarco was fourth for Ajo motorsport and will be joined by Franco Morbidelli and Takaaki Nakagami on the second row of the grid.

Moto2 - Qualifying results(Top 10)

Xavier Simeon (Kalex) 2m09.888
Sam Lowes (Speed Up) 2m09.942
Tito Rabat (Kalex) 2m10.077
Johann Zarco (Kalex) 2m10.102
Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 2m10.135
Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 2m10.194
Julian Simon (Speed Up) 2m10.261
Alex Rins (Kalex) 2m10.488
Dominique Aegerter (Kalex) 2m10.513
Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3) 2m10.548

Moto3: Kent sets the pace in qualifying

Earlier today, British Danny Kent stormed to pole position in the Moto3 class, outpacing Red Bull KTM Ajo of Miguel Oliveira by half a second.

Andrea Locatelli was third fastest in a customer Honda with Niccolo Antonelli slotting in fourth place. The two Estrella Galicia bikes qualified in fourth and fifth places while Francesco Bagnaia was the lead Mahindra runner in ninth position.

Moto3 - Qualifying results(Top 10)