AUSTIN: World champion Marc Marquez set a new lap record on his way to securing pole position for the second race in succession yesterday at the Grand Prix of the Americas.
The Spaniard, who took pole in the season-opener in Qatar and then went on to win the race under the desert floodlights, clocked a record 2min 02.886sec on the factory Honda at the circuit where he celebrated his maiden MotoGP win last season.
Marquez’s Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was second-fastest while Stefan Bradl ensured a Honda lockout of the front row.
For Marquez, who broke his leg in February in a dirt-bike accident in his native Spain, it was an 11th premier class pole position and it was achieved with a 0.289sec advantage over Pedrosa.
German rider Bradl was 0.423sec off the top.
It will be an all-Yamaha second row for today’s race, with Aleix Espargaro edging the superstar factory pair of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
On Friday, Marquez dominated practice, signalling his intent for today in his return to the site of his first MotoGP win.
The 21-year-old Spaniard -- whose victory in Austin last year made him the youngest rider to win a MotoGP race and launched him on his precocious championship charge -- ended the second free practice of the day with a 1.005sec margin over Andrea Dovizioso, with Pedrosa third-fastest.
After topping the first practice with a time of 2min 04.704sec, Marquez set the day’s best time in the afternoon of 2min 03.490sec.
He established himself as the favorite to repeat his pole position of last year in Saturday’s qualifying.
Honda’s Marquez posted his best Friday time on a hard tyre and was less than 0.5sec from his own pole record set on a medium tyre in 2013.
Ducati’s Dovizioso led the rest of the pack, using a softer tyre. Marquez’s Honda teammate Pedrosa was 1.133sec off the leader’s pace.
Italy’s Andrea Iannone of Pramac Racing posted the fourth-fastest time.
The best of the Yamaha riders was nine-time world champion Rossi, who is eager to improve on a disappointing sixth-place finish here last year. Rossi trailed Marquez by 1.3sec.
Agencies
