MotoGP: Marquez on pole for second race of the year

MotoGP™ qualifying at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas saw Marc Marquez clinch pole with a new record lap of Circuit of the Americas (2’02.886), with Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl joining him on the front row.

Marquez is quick wherever he rides but he appears to specifically enjoy the state-of-the-art Austin track where round two of the season is taking place and he secured his 11th premier class pole position by 0.289s from Repsol Honda teammate Pedrosa – having dominated all weekend so far.

A solid effort from LCR Honda MotoGP’s German rider Bradl put him at the back of row one as he got to within 0.423s of the rampant Marquez – making it an all Honda front three.

It will be an all-Yamaha second row for Sunday’s race, with Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) placing his ‘Open’ Forward-Yamaha fourth, 0.467s off pole. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP pair Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were fifth and sixth, Lorenzo registering a time just 0.003s off Espargaro’s, with Rossi 0.001s behind his teammate.

Heading the third row is Ducati Team’s Cal Crutchlow (+1.007s), in front of compatriot Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Italian Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing). Smith and Iannone were both also just over a second behind Marquez.

On row four, meanwhile are Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini).

The fastest ‘Open’ Honda rider Scott Redding will start just behind his GO&FUN Honda Gresini teammate Bautista at the head of row five, having missed Q2 by just 0.074s.

Sunday’s MotoGP race takes place at 2pm local time in Texas (GMT -5).

 

Moto2™: Late dash gives Rabat pole in Texas

Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) grabbed Moto2™ pole in Austin with a late 2’10.135 hot lap, heading the front row from Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert).

Having won at round one in Qatar Rabat will aim to clinch his second victory of the year at a track where he came second last season. He outpaced Zarco by 0.266s for the top spot on his Kalex machine, but Zarco’s Caterham team will also be pleased to be on the front row at just their second Grand Prix.

Aegerter was 0.287s off pole to secure his first ever front row start. Just behind the Swiss rider on the grid is Belgium’s Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) who heads a second row which also features Spanish duo Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40)German Moto2 rookie Jonas Folger (AGR Team) qualified seventh, ahead of Italian Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) and Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) on row three. Another German Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3) rounded out the top ten and therefore heads the fourth line of the Austin grid.

There were crashes for Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Axel Pons (AGR Team) but all escaped unharmed, a relief for Cortese after a big accident on Friday and the heavy crash he suffered in Qatar.

The Moto2™ race at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas takes place at 12.20pm local time (GMT -5) in Austin on Sunday.

 

Moto3™: Miller heads grid at Circuit of the Americas

Saturday’s Moto3™ qualifying session saw Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) take pole with a record 2’16.342 lap, with Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) joining the Australian on the second row.

Qatar race winner Miller went into provisional pole position with the hot lap mid way through the session and was a second ahead of his rivals until the final stages when Vazquez and Rins closed to within 0.347s and 0.556s respectively and secured their row one starts.

Row two meanwhile comprises Rins’ young teammate and compatriot Alex Marquez, in addition to Italian Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) and Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team). All three qualified just over a second off Miller’s time, with Antonelli escaping unhurt from a crash.

Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold), Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team) all feature on row three, whilst Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) qualified tenth after a big crash at the end of the session. He got up after the incident and looked to be uninjured.

There were also crashes for Eric Granado (Calvo Team), Alessandro Tonucci (CIP Mahindra) and Scott Deroue (RW Racing GP) but all escaped without major damage done.

The second Moto3™ race of 2014 gets started at 11am local time (GMT -5) on Sunday in Texas.

Source: motogp.com