- 2017-04-23
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SPORTS
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MotoGP Americas Qualifying: Marc Marquez Takes Pole Position at Red Bull Austin
The Round 3 on MotoGP 2017, America Grand Prix Qualifying ran at The Circuit Of The Americas in Austin on April 22.
Reigning MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took pole position with 2'2.741s following Argentina GP.
2nd place is Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) with 2'2.871s behind Marc Marquez by 0.130s. His team-mate Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) is third on the front row.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) took 4th place with 2'3.866s, following him, Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was 5th.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) came back from Q1, finally, he took 6th place on the second row, tha marks his best position since joining Ducati.
Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and Marc VDS Honda's Jack Miller then crashed early in Q2, the pair to start 11th and 12th.
Also, during an early in Q2, Maverick Vinales caught a slower moving Valentino Rossi on the inside of Turn 19. Both riders were so close to each other, but they were not clashed.
Marc Marquez (P1):
“Today has been a really good a for us because yesterday I was struggling a bit with the front confidence, but today was better although FP3 doesn’t look good for me. The conditions this morning were really critical. My first crash was my mistake, but the second crash was really strange. Tomorrow we’ll see how the temperature is because that could decide the tyre for the race. I tried two different bikes today and immediately I said ‘ok, this one is for me!’, and in FP4 I had a good rhythm on the used tyre. In qualifying I knew it would be difficult to get pole position because the Yamahas are so fast on new tyres – but I found a way to improve a bit and being on pole is so nice.”
Maverick Vinales (P2):
“When I saw the time I thought I was on pole because it was an incredible time compared to what we did in FP3 and FP4, but Marc did a really good lap and congratulations because it was an incredible lap. But I’m happy! Tomorrow we have to improve some things but I think we are quite ready. I hope I can battle and I can stay there at the end - we’ve been working really hard through the weekend on the last laps of the race. Today I got 100% from the Yamaha so we’ll take the positive points, and tomorrow we’ll try and work on the negative ones.”
Valentino Rossi (P3):
“It’s very important to be on the front row because it’s the first real qualifying of the season so it’s important to understand our potential in fifteen minutes. I feel good with the bike and we were able to improve. I knew if I had a clear lap I could get a good position but there was a lot of traffic and it was difficult to make strategies because there wasn’t enough time. So I was lucky to get through before the flag, and the last lap was good. It’s important to start on the front row, and I’ll try to stay close to Marquez and Viñales, but also look behind because Zarco and Pedrosa have very good pace – so I think it will be a big fight for the podium.”
RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS MotoGP Qualifying Results:- Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda Team / 2'2.741s
- Maverick Vinales / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / 2'2.871s
- Valentino Rossi / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / 2'3.673s
- Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda Team / 2'3.866s
- Johann Zarco / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 2'3.928s
- Jorge Lorenzo / Ducati Team / 2'4.151s
- Andrea Dovizioso / Ducati Team / 2'4.431s
- Jonas Folger / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 2'4.623s
- Cal Crutchlow / LCR Honda / 2'4.661s
- Scott Redding / Octo Pramac Racing / 2'4.673s
- Andrea Iannone / Team Suzuki Ecsta / 2'5.741s
- Jack Miller / Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS / 2'5.970s
- Danilo Petrucci / Octo Pramac Racing / 2'05.221s
- Loris Baz / Reale Avintia Racing / 2'05.231s
- Hector Barbera / Reale Avintia Racing / 2'05.541s
- Tito Rabat / Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS / 2'05.920s
- Karel Abraham / Pull&Bear Aspar Team / 2'05.931s
- Bradley Smith / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / 2'06.258s
- Alvaro Bautista / Pull&Bear Aspar Team / 2'06.295s
- Sam Lowes / Factory Aprilia Gresini / 2'07.232s
- Pol Espargaro / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / 2'07.601s
- Aleix Espargaro / Factory Aprilia Gresini / No Time
All photos copyright by MotoGP.- source : MotoGP
