Marquez again tops Austin qualifying
Marc Marquez's run of dominance in Austin continued Saturday as the red-hot Spaniard put his Honda on pole for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas. Marquez, fresh off a victory in Argentina, will be hoping to win from pole for the fourth straight year at the Circuit of the Americas in the hills outside the Texas capital. He topped qualifying with a time of 2min 3.188sec. Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, who have had their struggles in Austin since the event began three years ago, grabbed the other two front-row starting spots. "Maybe I didn’t do the perfect lap in qualifying and both Yamahas are closer, but we'll try to manage as best as possible tomorrow," Marquez said. "I'm happy with how the weekend is going in general, I feel a little better with the bike every time I go out on track and our pace for the race seems competitive. "The tires are working quite well, but of course, as always here at Austin, making the right choice for the front will be crucial." Reigning world champion Lorenzo, also of Spain, was second-fastest in qualifying with a time of 2:03.257 and Italy's Rossi, a nine-time world champion, clocked 2:03.644. Lorenzo set the early pace with a lap of 2:03.613 -- fastest of the weekend and his first under 2:04. Marquez promptly answered with his pole-grabbing lap, and after their first runs were complete Lorenzo was the only rider within a second of his compatriot. Lorenzo then produced his 2:03.257 -- but could not improve from there. Marquez -- whose 2013 victory in Austin at the age of 20 made him the youngest rider to win a MotoGP race -- claimed the 60th pole of his career. Lorenzo, who is fourth in the early world championship standings, was delighted to give his rival something to think about. But it remains to be seen if the Yamaha challenge will hold up over the length of the race. - Front row 'crucial' - Rossi, who was 0.456sec off Marquez's pace, said the front-row spot is a good start. "This result is crucial for the race tomorrow and it's also a good result for the work that we've done today," said Rossi, who trails points leader Marquez by eight going into Sunday's race. "From this morning we've improved the bike a lot and this afternoon in the free practice with the race tire I was quite strong. I started qualifying quite confident and I did some good laps," added Rossi, who hadn't put together back-to-back front-row starts since the Malaysian and Australian Grands Prix back in 2013. "The front row is always a very good target, especially when I have to fight with Marquez and Lorenzo when they are quite strong." Fourth-fastest and leading the Ducati charge was Andrea Iannone, but the Italian will start from seventh place on the grid as a result of his attempted last-lap pass in Argentina. Maverick Vinales on a Suzuki was fifth-fastest but will start from fourth because of Iannone's penalty. Vinales has tasted success before at Circuit of the Americas, where he won his first Moto2 race in 2014. Sixth in qualifying and the leading independent team rider, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) will move to fifth on the grid. After two tough opening rounds at Qatar and Argentina, the Briton is out to score his first points of 2016.
