Franco Morbidelli notched up his second pole of the season after edging compatriot Mattia Pasini to top spot at the Circuit of the Americas.
The Italian got down to business early in the session, trading first place with Marc VDS team-mate Alex Marquez. The Spaniard’s hit a bump when he fell off at the final corner 10 minutes in, Morbidelli going top of the pile at the exact same time to rub salt in his wounds.
Luckily, the damage to Marquez’s Kalex was minor and he was able to remount. Seemingly suffering no loss in confidence, Marquez posted a 2m09.621s to complete the front row whilst his team-mate fended off Pasini for pole.
At the chequered flag, Morbdelli was just under two tenths clear of the Italtrans rider, who tallies up his first front row start since Phillip Island last season. The Italian could prove a useful roadblock to Morbidelli tomorrow should the Marc VDS rider take the holeshot at the start.
Takaaki Nakagami carried over his strong FP3 form to qualify fourth for tomorrow’s 19-lap grand prix, with Tom Luthi and Dominique Aegerter for company on the second row. Miguel Oliveira heads Xavier Simeon and Sandro Cortese on the third row.
Ricky Cardus was an impressive 10th on the second of the KTM’s, the Austrian marque’s test rider just a tenth adrift of Oliveira. Marcel Schrotter and Xavi Vierge shared 2m10.478s in 11th and 12th respectively, whilst Jorge Navarro brushed off a late fall for 13th on his Gresini Kalex.
Lorenzo Baldassarri edged fellow VR46 academy member Francesco Bagnaia for 14th, with Fabio Quartararo flying under the radar in a disappointing 16th having looked solid in this morning’s final practice.
