Marquez pole as Vinales, Rossi tangle
Marc Marquez has extended his pole position reign at the Circuit of the Americas to five in a row, after fending off the challenge of Maverick Vinales in Saturday's qualifying session.
World championship leader Vinales, unbeaten as a Yamaha rider, was left angry after a close moment with team-mate Valentino Rossi at Turn 19 but fought back to take pole from Marquez on his final lap.
But the Repsol Honda star responded to pull 0.130s clear and claim his first pole since Phillip Island in October. Rossi - just ahead on track - grabbed the final front row start, albeit 0.930s from Marquez.
The Italian said he had not seen Vinales during the earlier incident.
Marquez will now be aiming to replicate his qualifying success in Sunday's race, which he has won ever since the circuit joined the MotoGP calendar in 2013, and help kick-start his season.
Marquez is expected to face an intensive challenge from Vinales, while Rossi will be eager to exploit by far his best qualifying of the season. A podium finisher in each of the previous rounds, Rossi is 14 points behind Vinales. Both will be seeking Yamaha's 500cc grand prix win on Sunday.
Row two will consist of Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie Johann Zarco and a delighted Jorge Lorenzo. The triple MotoGP champion graduated through Qualifying 1 for the first time as a Ducati rider (just behind Jack Miller) in a session that saw an epic save from Loris Baz.
WOW! How did Baz save that?! #AmericasGP #MotoGP Q1. @LorisBaz @AvintiaRacing_ pic.twitter.com/LkfKx9xHTq-- Crash.net MotoGP (@crash_motogp) April 22, 2017
Qualifying 2:
1. Marc Marquez
2. Maverick Vi?ales
3. Valentino Rossi
4. Dani Pedrosa
5. Johann Zarco
6. Jorge Lorenzo
7. Andrea Dovizioso
8. Jonas Folger
9. Cal Crutchlow
10. Scott Redding
11. Andrea Iannone
12. Jack Miller
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
