MotoGP 2017: Marquez takes fifth consecutive pole in Austin

Marc Marquez continues his dominance at Grand Prix of the Americas for the fifth time in a row as he denies Maverick Vinales pole. 

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will be starting the Grand Prix of the Americas from pole position ahead of the Movistar Yamaha duo, Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi, who are placed in second and third spots, respectively. This is Marquez's fifth consecutive pole in Austin, while he has also won all the races in the past four years here.

Marquez and Vinales kept trading the fastest lap times during the practice sessions before the final qualifying. Marquez, however, edged Vinales by 0.130s on his qualifying lap of 2:02.741. Joining the two Spaniards on the front row will be Rossi. Rossi, however, was nearly a second off Marquez’s fastest lap, but on the race day, he’s expected to fight for the top spot.

Dani Pedrosa is close behind Rossi in fourth on the second row, where he will be joined by French rookie Johann Zarco of Monster Tech 3 Yamaha and Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, who finally seems to have found his mojo back this race weekend. The third row will be led by Andrea Dovizioso in seventh, followed by Jonas Folger(8^th) and Cal Crutchlow (9^th). Scott Redding completes the top ten on the grid.

Having won the opening two races, Vinales currently leads the championship, followed by Rossi. After crashing out in Argentina, the reigning world champion Marquez is currently placed eighth in the points table. He will be desperate to make up for the lost ground in Texas and be back in contention for the championship.