Rookie Marc Márquez Sets Pole Record In Austin

Repsol Honda Team rider Marc Márquez sets new record for youngest pole position in MotoGP

// Marquez Sets Pole Record

On Saturday, MotoGP took to the track at Circuit of The Americas for back-to-back practice and qualifying sessions. Repsol Honda Team's Dani Pedrosa set the fastest lap in Free Practice 3 with a time of 2'04.408 and his teammate, Marc Márquez, came in at 2'04.795. However, Márquez shaved even more time off his best lap, cutting down his lap time to to 2'03.779 in Free Practice 4 and overtaking Pedrosa. At the end of FP4, it was Marquez, Pedrosa (2'04.183), Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo (2'04.680), Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow (2'04.825) and LCR Honda MotoGP's Stefan Bradl (2'04.996) rounding out the top five.

With a short break after the practice sessions, the first qualifying session began with the back half of the grid taking to the track first. Unlike Formula 1, MotoGP ranks the riders based on their cumulative practice times following FP4. The slowest riders then proceed to Qualifying 1 and are ranked relative to each other. Next, the top two riders from Q1 proceed for a chance to continue the fight in the second qualifying session against the top ten riders. When the dust settles, Q2 has twelve total riders competing to post the best lap time.

Today's Q1 session was lead by Aleix Espargaro (2'06.112), with Bradley Smith (2'06.951) and Andrea Iannone (2'06.872) following behind. Espargaro and Smith advanced into Q2 and eventually placed 9th and 11th, respectively.

The top qualifying position for tomorrow's Inaugural Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas was taken by the young star, Marc Márquez, whose impressive performance this weekend reached a new high when he set the top track record of 2'03.021 in Q2. This is Márquez's first pole in MotoGP and in addition to this great achievement, Márquez is now the youngest MotoGP rider to qualify on pole position.

Unable to take back the lead in the second qualifying session, teammate Dani Pedrosa set his top time of 2'03.275. Following Pedrosa, Lorenzo set the third fastest time of 2'04.100.

Here's the full, official lineup for tomorrow's first MotoGP race at Circuit of The Americas:

1. Marc Márquez
2. Dani Pedrosa
3. Jorge Lorenzo
4. Cal Crutchlow
5. Stefan Bradl
6. Andrea Davizioso
7. Alvaro Bautista
8. Valentino Rossi
9. Aleiz Espargaro
10. Nicky Hayden
11. Bradley Smith
12. Ben Spies
13. Andrea Iannone
14. Randy de Puniet
15. Hector Barbera
16. Yonny Hernandez
17. Michael Laverty
18. Colin Edwards
19. Claudio Corti
20. Danilo Petrucci
21. Hiroshi Aoyama
22. Bryan Staring
23. Lukas Pesek
24. Blake Young

Who will win in Austin? Will we see a repeat of branded cowboy hats for the podium finishers? How will the pack of 24 react to the now famous Turn 1? History will be written in Austin tomorrow, be sure to tune in at 01:30 CDT on SPEED TV to witness the main event.

Valentino Rossi's Take on Qualifying

Valentino Rossi, #46 with Yamaha Factory Racing

Valentino Rossi is one of only two riders that has competed at all thirteen previous MotoGP races held in the USA (along with Texan Colin Edwards). This weekend’s Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas will be the 35th different circuit that Rossi has raced at since he started his MotoGP career in 2002. The 34 year old Italian, affectionately called “The Doctor,” is a worldwide fan favorite who is known for his animated expressions, playful antics and fun-loving attitude. Rossi will line up eighth on the grid for tomorrow’s race after qualifying with a best lap time of 2’05.380. Following the session, we listened in on the following interview.

VR: We expect to go better but we have to be able to fix the problem in braking and especially the first part; I lose too much. But anyway, we have tomorrow...we know that this weekend, this track can be more difficult. We have to make a good race, to try to achieve some position and take some point.

Media: Which would be the best combination of tyres for tomorrow?

VR: Eh, I don’t know but I think hard or soft. I think, more or less, everybody. So I have some question mark but I think (hard).

Media: So it seems as if the Hondas are in a different league. Can you catch them or is it a case of catching the rest?

VR: Yeah, the Honda is very fast, yeah. And…bigger. They have a big advantage, I think. I think would be difficult.

Media: Best of the rest? 

VR: Eh, ha ha, difficult. But easy if we are able to prove the setting we can; the target is try to stay with Crutchlow, try to stay with Bradl, and after, we’ll see.

Needless to say, Valentino seems honest about the performance of the Yamaha leading into tomorrow's race. Knowing that they do not have the pace of the Hondas and are struggling with grip on track, Rossi will push hard to continue to develop the bike.

Despite a challenging weekend so far, "The Doctor" has consistently had swarms of fans waiting outside of the Yamaha Factory Team pit boxes and throughout the paddock to snap a photo, snag an autograph or simply wish him "Buona fortuna!" His fans are unscathed; their enthusiasm is only rivaled by his charisma and it's easy to see why he is one of the most beloved riders and ambassadors in the MotoGP paddock.

You can follow Valentino Rossi on his Facebook page, his Twitter feed, on Instagram or check out his dedicated website.

Pedrosa Fastest in Practice Three

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa during Friday's practice session at Circuit of The Americas (Image by Keith Rizzo, COTA)

// Free Practice Three

The MotoGP grid returned to the track for a third practice session this morning with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa shaving over a second from his previous practice time (2'05.585) and setting the pace for the session (2'04.408). Following behind were Marquez (2'04.795), Lorenzo (2'05.295) and Crutchlow. (2'05.630) The riders will continue their preparations for the qualifying session later this afternoon.

Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Marquez took second position in the practice session following a crash on the entrance to Turn 19 early in the session. The MotoGP rookie for the Repsol Honda team lost the rear end of his bike while beginning the lead into to the penultimate corner, causing him to tumble over the top of his bike, land on his side and slide across the run-off into the gravel. Marquez recovered quickly and returned to the track, holding the top time for the session until the final few minutes when he was eclipsed by his teammate.

Marquez’s spill echoes what many Formula 1 drivers experienced in November: the off-camber geometry of Turn 19 creates difficulty in setting up for the turn-in. Like the first practice sessions of F1 at COTA, many riders in MotoGP are struggling to maintain balance after exiting the wide sweeping right turns of 16-18 and properly setup Turn 19, causing many to overshoot and be forced to sacrifice grip or their line into Turn 20. A deceptively simple turn, this will cause problems for many riders, so keep an eye on how they continue to develop their skills in the last sector of the track; it could make the difference in tomorrow’s race.

// Official Standings

Here’s the full line-up following FP3 this morning (Lukas Pesek and Mike Barnes fell outside of 107%): 

1. Dani Pedrosa
2. Marc Marquez
3. Jorge Lorenzo
4. Cal Crutchlow
5. Stefan Bradl
6. Andrea Dovizioso
7. Valentino Rossi
8. Alvaro Bautista
9. Nicky Hayden
10. Ben Spies
11. Aleix Espargaro
12. Bradley Smith
13. Andrea Iannone
14. Randy de Puniet
15. Yonny Hernandez
16. Karel Abraham
17. Danilo Petrucci
18. Hector Barbera
19. Claudio Corti
20. Hiroshi Aoyama
21. Colin Edwards
22. Michael Laverty
23. Bryan Staring
24. Blake Young