Marc Marquez looks set to maintain his phenomenal record of success in the United States after claiming pole position for the Indianapolis. The world champion set a phenomenal time on his very first hot lap of the session, leaving his rivals playing a fruitless game of catch-up for the remainder of the pole position shootout.
After an impressive showing in final practice, Bradley Smith headed into qualifying as the second fastest rider and the Briton went quickest initially on a 1:32.589. The Tech 3 rider was soon shuffled back down the order though when the Repsol Hondas got up to speed with Dani Pedrosa going four tenths faster while Marquez found even more time, smashing through the 1:32 barrier to clock a 1:31.884.
Curiously, Valentino Rossi had ducked back into the pits without registering a lap time on his first run but the championship leader shot straight up to third when he re-joined the fray. He was soon demoted down the order though in a frantic finish to the session, starting with an improved second run for Smith which bumped him back onto the front row.
Cal Crutchlow was the next to make progress with the LCR rider setting up a potential Honda 1-2-3 but Jorge Lorenzo eventually secured the last spot on the front row, pipping Crutchlow to third by 0.022s. Danilo Petrucci used a well-timed slipstream to snatch fifth from Smith while Andrea Iannone salvaged seventh for Ducati’s factory team, relegating Rossi to eighth.
Maverick Vinales produced another magnificent effort to qualify ninth, three places ahead of his Suzuki teammate Aleix Espargaro, while Andrea Dovizioso and Pol Espargaro will start between the GSX-RRs after being put in the shade by their respective teammates again.
2015 RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
[table id=508 /]
