After suffering a problem with one of his bikes, the Repsol Honda rider completes a superb final lap to claim his 23rd pole position in MotoGP. Aoyama does not progress past Q1 and qualifies eighteenth.
The reigning MotoGP World Champion never ceases to surprise, and on Saturday in Austin he did it again. A spectacular final lap during qualifying earned him his 51st career pole in the World Championship –his 23rd in MotoGP. A few minutes before the end of the session, Marc encountered a warning light on his dashboard, so as a safety measure he switched the bike off, HRC engineers are looking into this issue. The Repsol Honda rider left his bike leaning against the wall by the finish line, and he sprinted towards his garage and reemerged just in time with his second bike to undertake another run. He remained calm and rode his final lap on the edge, setting the fastest time of the qualifying session.
Hiroshi Aoyama continued to accumulate track time with tomorrow’s race in mind. Today he failed to make the cut from Q1 and tomorrow will start from eighteenth position on the grid. Tomorrow at 14:00 local time, the second round of the MotoGP championship will be contended.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st – 2:02.135, 30 laps, 165 km
“I’m happy, because after having a problem we were able to come back and set the fastest time. It was rather different to what we are used to, because when I crossed the line for the first time with the second tyre I saw a warning light on the bike. When that happens, we are normally advised to shut off the engine. I was able to get out again on the second bike and cross the line right at the cut-off point to put in a final lap, which worked out well for us. It’s important, because tomorrow we are expecting an eventful race with the unstable weather conditions. If the race is dry, then I’m ready. If it’s wet, then we will have to see how things go in the moment!”
Hiroshi Aoyama >> Audio >> Audio JAP
18th – 2:05.086, 33 laps, 182 km
“Today we were fortunate to have dry conditions all day and in each session I have improved but it wasn’t easy. During qualifying I had an issue with chatter but still bettered my time, however, it wasn’t enough to get a good grid position. I still have room to improve in time for tomorrow’s race so I hope it’s dry. I’ll try to find a few tenths in different places to allow me to move up in the standings.”
