Marc Marquez takes Americas pole, Dani Pedrosa lines up 8th

Marc Marquez’s near-perfect relationship with the Circuit of the Americas continued on Saturday, where on the second day of practice he once again dominated proceedings. The Spaniard closed both Free Practice sessions in first place, then claimed pole position as the fastest rider in qualifying. He stopped the clock at 2:03.188, to take the 60th pole of his Grand Prix career, his fourth in a row at the Circuit of the Americas and his second of the season –after last weekend’s Argentinian GP. Only Jorge Lorenzo –with 62, and Valentino Rossi –with 61, have more. His Repsol Honda teammate, Dani Pedrosa, finished eighth in qualifying, with a time of 2:04.379. He will start from the third row tomorrow.

Marc Marquez
“I’m really happy with this pole position. It looks like I feel good here in America. 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. 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 rhythm for the race seems competitive. The tyres are working quite well, but of course, as always here at Austin, making the right choice for the front will be crucial. It will be a tough race, both physically and in terms of lap times, because even though it doesn’t seem like it, everything is pretty tight, but I feel comfortable and I think I have the chance to fight for the victory.”

Dani Pedrosa
“This weekend has been a bit tough for us so far; we are working very hard but just not going fast, in particular due to the grip levels. This afternoon I tried the hard tyre, but it’s not the one that works best for us. It has been difficult for us to find the best setup for the bike. We will continue working hard for the race; we have to be very focused and make a good start.”

Source: Repsol Media