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In the Austin qualifiers, the absolute protagonist was once again Marc Marquez, not so much because of his time in the finale with a medium front tyre at 2’03”658 which is valid for pole position in the Grand Prix tomorrow, as for the “numbers” done during the session. And to think that the Spaniard was suffering from a sore throat and running a fever.
Marc even crashed on a fast right-hander, turn 13, and his attempt to pick up the bike produced smoke and sparks. Back in the Repsol garage, given a scooter ride by a steward, number 93 jumped on the second RCV and, just as he was going back out on track, got in the way of Maverick Viñales’ flying lap – probably his best – who came up behind the World Champion.
The “WTF” was not lacking: Maverick gesticulated his protest, whereas back in parc fermé, Marc learned that his pole was under investigation by Race Direction. “I didn’t do it on purpose – Marquez said to the TV microphones – Independently of the pole, what counts is the race pace for tomorrow.”
Maverick had to settle for the second spot on the grid, just four tenths behind Marquez: “I had fun – he revealed – and I cleared things up with Marc. Tomorrow I’ll try to repeat this performance. In fact, I really want to win the race.”
Iannone is also happy, with his GSX-RR finally rideable the way he likes it. The third best time, half a second behind the pole position time, places him on a good spot for the race start: “I’m satisfied even if I don’t have the best time – the Italian stated – well-aware that I’ll have to battle tomorrow to maintain the pace of the fastest riders.” The front row at Austin will therefore host a Honda, a Yamaha and a Suzuki.
Johann Zarco will be on the second row, with Valentino Rossi just behind. The number 46 rider also tried to achieve something better, but he was unable to do faster than the fifth best time with the third M1 on the time sheets.
The best Ducati on the track was Jorge Lorenzo’s (sixth), which managed to navigate the long turns with a single, clean line. The Majorcan seemed to have found the solution to dialling in his Desomosedici GP.
The seventh best time went to the championship leader, Cal Crutchlow, with his Honda LCR. Andrea Dovizioso finished with the eighth best time, using two soft Michelins, one second and two tenths behind Marquez. Dani Pedrosa, still in pain, achieved a stoic ninth best time.
