Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Results and summary of qualifying for MotoGP:
Marc Marquez continued his brilliant form grabbing pole position for the first-ever MotoGP race at the COTA circuit near Austin, Texas. The Repsol Honda rookie was fastest in nearly each session on every day at the new track. He finished two-tenths up on teammate Dani Pedrosa, who qualified second. Jorge Lorenzo, on the top-qualifying Yamaha, filled out the front row as third fastest but remained a daunting second behind leader Marquez.
As remarkable as Marquez's riding has been -- and it does have fans betting that on Sunday he'll take Fast Freddie Spencer's record as the youngest GP winner -- equally impressive is Aleix Espargaro's ninth place qualifying on the ART bike, only .009 from Valentino Rossi's fast lap for eighth. Putting a CRT bike into the top ten is difficult enough but doing it on a new track with no prior testing got everyone's attention -- particularly factory riders on the final year of their contracts.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff. / Prev. |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 2'03.021 | |
| 2 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 2'03.275 | 0.254 / 0.254 |
| 3 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | 2'04.100 | 1.079 / 0.825 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | 2'04.267 | 1.246 / 0.167 |
| 5 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | 2'04.445 | 1.424 / 0.178 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 2'04.873 | 1.852 / 0.428 |
| 7 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Honda | 2'04.942 | 1.921 / 0.069 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 2'05.380 | 2.359 / 0.438 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | ART | 2'05.389 | 2.368 / 0.009 |
| 10 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati | 2'05.568 | 2.547 / 0.179 |
| 11 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | Yamaha | 2'06.740 | 3.719 / 1.172 |
| 12 | 11 | Ben SPIES | Ducati | 2'07.044 | 4.023 / 0.304 |
| 13 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati | 2'06.872 | 0.760 / 0.281 |
| 14 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | ART | 2'07.129 | 1.017 / 0.257 |
| 15 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | FTR | 2'07.717 | 1.605 / 0.588 |
| 16 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | ART | 2'07.738 | 1.626 / 0.021 |
| 17 | 70 | Michael LAVERTY | PBM | 2'08.259 | 2.147 / 0.521 |
| 18 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | FTR Kawasaki | 2'08.475 | 2.363 / 0.216 |
| 19 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | FTR Kawasaki | 2'08.792 | 2.680 / 0.317 |
| 20 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ioda-Suter | 2'08.825 | 2.713 / 0.033 |
| 21 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | FTR | 2'09.062 | 2.950 / 0.237 |
| 22 | 67 | Bryan STARING | FTR Honda | 2'10.098 | 3.986 / 1.036 |
| 23 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | Ioda-Suter | 2'10.507 | 4.395 / 0.409 |
| 24 | 79 | Blake YOUNG | APR | 2'10.606 | 4.494 / 0.099 |
| 25 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | ART | 2'23.317 | 17.205 / 12.711 |
Comments
Marquez!!!
Who can stop him is right. Wow!! What a performance from him! Dani did well to come within 3 tenths. Big Marquez fan here. Wanting to see him lead a race and control it. If Dani can stay with him for the first half. It's going to be a fight between them. If Marc can't handle to pace out front, I tip Dani for the win here.
Marquez looked amazing out
Marquez looked amazing out there for sure. FP's & QP's are one thing, but a race is another beast all together.
He's about two inches away
He's about two inches away from dragging his HIP!!!! Stunning performance!!!! Qual'ing and racing are two totally different animals, but, if he can make it through the first lap anywhere near Dani.....look out!
We may have two races tomorrow
There's an outside chance that Pedrosa may be able to challenge Marquez for the win (though I wouldn't bet on it) and a possibility of Crutchlow giving Lorenzo a run for his money.
Then again, we may be back to the processional GPs of the past few years...
Dani will challenge Marquez come race time
Must suck to be him right now though. First Stoner comes in and takes the title in his first year on the bike, and now a rookie is showing him the way around.
MotoGP qualifying
Is supposed to be on Speed right now, but it's showing Nascar game shows and commentary.
Espargaros performance
Absolutely astounding. Would you class this as a circuit that would offer some assistance to the CRTs? I wouldn't think so given the length of the straight etc.
I would truly love to see what he could do on a full factory bike. I think we are seeing the future of MotoGP passing gradually into some very good hands with the like of him and Marquez. Bradley Smith will also improve in time. His last lap in the first qualifying session showed the sort of moxy he has got. Really enjoyable to watch these guys in action.
PS. I think Alpinestar needs a new material for MMs elbow sliders. Even the titanium won't last long with that sort of grinding :-)
Lap times
Does anyone know about consistent lap times in the free practices? As in were the the qualifying times more one off then anything? Did anyone show some 10 lap race pace consistency?