Austin MotoGP qualifying
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Petrucci goes second, 0.036s behind Lorenzo. Can he hang on...?
Lorenzo is pulling it back in the next sectors, though...
Dovizioso, Mir and Petrucci are all on laps faster than Lorenzo's current benchmark with the chequered flag out now...
Petrucci is struggling here and is now down to eighth.
Stopwatch
Lorenzo grabs the top spot! He beats Dovizioso by 0.052s!
Dovizioso doesn't improve after all. He's still quickest and will get another lap in.
Mir shoots up to second for Suzuki, 0.483s behind Dovizioso.
Lorenzo is down in 10th but has just done the fastest sector two of anyone so far.
Zarco's lap tails off and he only inches up to sixth.
Dovizioso is going faster again on his next lap.
Zarco, currently down in eighth, is putting in a strong lap too now.
Stopwatch
Dovizioso moves clear with a 2m05.907s, that's 0.711s faster than Espargaro.
Stopwatch
But first Espargaro puts Aprilia on top with a 2m06.618s, half a second clear of Oliveira.
Now Dovizioso's doing the sort of thing you'd expect from a title contender's works Ducati - new fastest time coming up...
Most of the riders are now coming into the pits for fresh tyres and a final sprint. The two-minute-plus lap time here means it'll be a scramble at the end.
Espargaro brings himself up to fifth, two places behind Aprilia team-mate Iannone.
So right now it's Oliveira and Petrucci going into Q2, and Iannone, Mir, Dovizioso, Nakagami, Zarco, Syahrin, Lorenzo, Abraham, Rabat and Espargaro outside the cut - but there's still five minutes to go.
Petrucci flew through the first three sectors but he's a touch off Oliveira at the end of the lap and only goes second, 0.098s off the Tech3 KTM.
Petrucci is about to raise the bar as the works Ducatis get going. Dovizioso goes fourth with his first proper flying lap.
Lorenzo has done a more respectable lap time and is now within 1.013s of the pace but he's still down in eighth.
Nakagami puts his LCR Honda up to fourth ahead of Zarco.
A better lap from Iannone that time and he goes second, 0.123s off Oliveira.
Oliveira completes his lap and goes to the top with a 2m07.111s, 0.379s clear of Mir.
Petrucci only goes fourth with his first run. Dovizioso is yet to put a time in.
Tech3 KTM's rookie Oliveira is putting in an absolutely storming lap now...
Lorenzo is only seventh so far, 7.5s off the pace.
Stopwatch
Suzuki man Mir is fastest of the early runners, ahead of Oliveira, Zarco and Nakagami.
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Aprilia pair Andrea Iannone and Aleix Espargaro, the KTMs of Johann Zarco, Hazifh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira, Takaaki Nakagami, Joan Mir, Tito Rabat and Karel Abraham complete our Q1 pack.
Three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo is also in Q1 as his early struggles at Honda continue.
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Q1 is under way, and we have some big names trying to fight their way through to the pole shootout - including 2017 and '18 championship runner-up Andrea Dovizioso. The satellite Pramac Ducatis had a great Friday, but the factory team didn't and Dovizioso's team-mate Danilo Petrucci is in this session too. Here are their thoughts: 
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Marquez has also never been beaten to a MotoGP pole position at Austin. But it says a lot about MotoGP that even when you come to a track where one bloke has taken every pole and win ever, you're still expecting an extremely close qualifying fight and ultra-entertaining race.
Crutchlow closed up a bit on his last lap, but Marquez still ended practice four 1.9s clear of the field.
Valentino Rossi was third, Franco Morbidelli fourth and Alex Rins fifth.
Valentino Rossi was third, Franco Morbidelli fourth and Alex Rins fifth.
The track itself is basically now dry, but riders are having some real adventures over the kerbs - with Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, who did pip Marquez in practice two yesterday, latest to hold a big moment.
That's the Marc Marquez who hasn't ever been beaten in a MotoGP race at Austin.
The practice four session that precedes qualifying is just finishing, and Marc Marquez has just made the most of the nearly dry track to go fastest by 2.301s over Cal Crutchlow.
Welcome to our live coverage of qualifying for MotoGP's Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin. Yes, there's going to be qualifying - the storms have passed and we're good to go.
By: Matt Beer
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