Sensationnal Marquez

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez claimed his 23rd MotoGP™ pole position in Austin, with an incredible final lap.
 
The lap was made even more remarkable by the fact the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion had to stop on track with 3 minutes remaining after a technical fault and run back down the pit lane to retrieve his second bike with just seconds to spare.
 
Not even this could stop the Spaniard as he went back out on track to set the fastest ever time on two-wheels around CoTA, a 2’02.135, over sixth-tenths quicker than his previous lap record set in Qualifying last year. It was a fitting end to a thrilling Q2, which saw the lead change hands a number of times in the dying seconds.
 
Despite overcast skies, track conditions were actually ideal for the fifteen-minute session, with Marquez finishing an impressive 0.339s ahead of his nearest rival, the pole sitter from Qatar, Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati Team GP15.
 
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.405s) took the final front row spot after completing a remarkable comeback having revealed that the reason that he struggled during practice was because he was suffering from bronchitis.
 
Lorenzo's teammate and winner in Qatar Valentino Rossi (+0.428s) will start from the front of the second row, with the leading Satellite rider Cal Crutchlow (+0.478s) and Scott Redding (+0.539s) on their Factory spec Honda’s in 5th and 6th respectively.
 
The second factory Ducati of Andrea Iannone will start from 7th with the Team Suzuki Ecstar of Aleix Espargaro (8th) finishing ahead of his brother Pol (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) in 9th.
 
Bradley Smith, Danilo Petrucci and Maverick Viñales will form the 4th row on the grid for Sundays race.
 
Earlier on, it was the Factory Ducati GP15 of Andrea Iannone and Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales who made it through from Q1. Hector Barbera missed out on taking part in Q2 by less than five-hundredths of a second, but won the battle of the Open class riders and will start from the front of the 5th row in 13th place, ahead of Athina Forward Racing’s Stefan Bradl and Yonny Hernandez on the second Pramac Racing Ducati.
 
1 - Marc Marquez (SPA) HONDA 2'02.135
2 - Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) DUCATI 2'02.474
3 - Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) YAMAHA 2'02.540
----------------
13 - Hector Barbera (SPA) DUCATI 2'03.926