Repsol Honda pair back on form at Circuit of the Americas, where they will start tomorrow’s second race of the season from the front of the grid.
Marc Marquez started today as many people’s favourite to take a 39th career pole position in Austin, but as the rider himself said yesterday it was down to him to do it on the track. The Spaniard did exactly that and he did it in convincing fashion, dominating qualifying practice with an iron fist to secure the front spot on the grid for the second race of the season. He will be joined on the front row by his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who took another step forward to improve his pace today.
Free practice had also been dominated by the World Champion, with Pedrosa third fastest in both of today’s sessions, but the adrenaline was pumping in the 15 minute grid shootout and the lap times dropped further. Marquez clocked four consecutive laps inside his pole record from last season, eventually stopping the clock with a 2’02.773. Pedrosa didn’t quite manage to improve his lap time on his second tyre but he was safe in second place, 0.289 off the pace of his team-mate.
The pair will head up the grid tomorrow for a race that gets underway at 14:00h in Austin, (21:00 CET).
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st. 2:02.773, 7 laps, 39 km
“I’m very happy with how the weekend is going and with the qualifying session – especially taking pole position. I have a good feeling with the bike and have been setting a good pace ahead of tomorrow’s race. We will try to get a good start and I’m sure we’ll be fighting with Dani, as he is our strongest rival. I think that the beginning of the race will be the most important part, because with this heat the tyres suffer a lot. I will try to remain focused and have a good race!”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
2nd. 2:03.062, 7 laps, 39 km.
“We improved the bike a lot today and I was able to ride much better than yesterday. I managed to come very close in qualifying and hope to take advantage of all my chances to win tomorrow’s race. Last year we came second so I will look to take one step further tomorrow!”
