Marc Marquez will begin his quest for a 10th consecutive MotoGP victory from pole position after topping qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The Spaniard’s best of 1:31.62s in Q2 proved 0.23s quicker than Italian Andrea Dovizisoso, who impressed on the first of the Ducatis.

Marquez had made a dramatic mistake on his opening lap of the session, running on through the Turn 1 grass and ending up on the circuit’s oval.

Typically unflustered, the reigning world champion shot to the top of the times on his very next lap, before improving by a further tenth to secure the pole.

“It is really good to be back on pole after the holidays,” he said.

“I am really happy and it gives us a lot of confidence. Our pace for tomorrow it high and if it’s dry I think we can fight for the victory.

“The new layout is good, maybe the old one was better for our bike but overall it’s better to ride,” he added.

“The surface is also a lot better, less bumpy and with more grip. I’ve been working hard with my rhythm on used tyres, I had a little moment because I was pushing.

“Hopefully it is a dry race tomorrow because I think that we can push for the victory.”

Dovizioso proved just 0.03s clear of third placed Jorge Lorenzo, who completes the front-row on his Yamaha.

Aleix Espagaro, Valentino Rossi and Pol Espagaro made it an all-Yamaha second row.

Pol Espagaro’s team-mate Bradley Smith will start back in ninth after walking away from a heavy crash in the closing stages of the session.

Factory Honda star Dani Pedrosa was meanwhile beaten by Andre Iannone for seventh place, continuing a lacklustre weekend for the Spaniard.

In Moto3, Australian Jack Miller continued his strong season, taking pole for Sunday’s race.

Just 0.08s separated the top three in a tight session for the entry level class.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow; I think it will be very hard because the front group will feature many riders,” said Miller.

“Hopefully I can get the best possible result.”

Result: MotoGP qualifying, Indianapolis

 1

Marc Marquez

Honda

1m31.619s

 2

Andrea Dovizioso

Ducati

1m31.844s

+0.225s

 3

Jorge Lorenzo

Yamaha

1m31.869s

+0.250s

 4

Aleix Espargaro

Forward Yamaha

1m32.113s

+0.494s

 5

Valentino Rossi

Yamaha

1m32.160s

+0.541s

 6

Pol Espargaro

Tech 3 Yamaha

1m32.243s

+0.624s

 7

Andrea Iannone

Pramac Ducati

1m32.254s

+0.635s

 8

Dani Pedrosa

Honda

1m32.331s

+0.712s

 9

Bradley Smith

Tech 3 Yamaha

1m32.343s

+0.724s

10

Stefan Bradl

LCR Honda

1m32.514s

+0.895s

11

Scott Redding

Gresini Honda

1m32.714s

+1.095s

12

Cal Crutchlow

Ducati

1m32.794s

+1.175s

13

Yonny Hernandez

Pramac Ducati

1m33.166s

Q1

14

Alvaro Bautista

Gresini Honda

1m33.294s

Q1

15

Colin Edwards

Forward Yamaha

1m33.625s

Q1

16

Leon Camier

Aspar Honda

1m33.747s

Q1

17

Danilo Petrucci

Ioda Aprilia

1m33.837s

Q1

18

Hiroshi Aoyama

Aspar Honda

1m33.948s

Q1

19

Mike di Meglio

Avintia FTR-Kawasaki

1m34.244s

Q1

20

Hector Barbera

Avintia FTR-Kawasaki

1m34.332s

Q1

21

Karel Abraham

Cardion Honda

1m34.369s

Q1

22

Broc Parkes

PBM-Aprilia

1m34.764s

Q1

23

Michael Laverty

PBM-Aprilia

1m34.814s

Q1