Marc Marquez completes domination of Austin MotoGP free practice
Marc Marquez completed a clean sweep of all three Austin MotoGP practice sessions with another blistering performance on Saturday morning
The current world champion produced a lap of 2m03.046s, just 0.025 seconds shy of his own track record, in the final moments while running on the harder rear tyre, while those pursuing him posted their quickest times on the softer option.
Stefan Bradl moved up the order on his final run and finished ahead of Dani Pedrosa, who had Andrea Dovizioso in close company, the Ducati rider only 0.005s adrift in fourth.
Bradley Smith rounded off the top five and initially bumped his Tech 3 team-mate Pol Espagaro out of the top 10 positions for automatic promotion to Q2.
But the 2013 Moto2 champion was able to find gains and sneaked into the final qualifying session before the chequered flag.
For the first time this weekend, Jorge Lorenzo beat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi as the pair claimed seventh and 10th respectively.
Follow all the action from Austin MotoGP race day as it happens on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 4pm UK time on Sunday April 13
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Marc Marquez Honda 2m03.046s 16 2. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m03.791s +0.745s 17 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m03.934s +0.888s 15 4. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m03.939s +0.893s 14 5. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m03.963s +0.917s 16 6. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m04.104s +1.058s 16 7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m04.175s +1.129s 15 8. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 2m04.217s +1.171s 15 9. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 2m04.280s +1.234s 14 10. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m04.311s +1.265s 16 11. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m04.710s +1.664s 15 12. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 2m04.718s +1.672s 12 13. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 2m05.387s +2.341s 15 14. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 2m05.401s +2.355s 16 15. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 2m05.778s +2.732s 16 16. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 2m06.228s +3.182s 13 17. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 2m06.888s +3.842s 14 18. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m07.158s +4.112s 16 19. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha 2m07.418s +4.372s 14 20. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Aprilia 2m07.593s +4.547s 17 21. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 2m07.842s +4.796s 11 22. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 2m08.089s +5.043s 14 23. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m08.122s +5.076s 12
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