Simeon and Kent score respective Moto2 and Moto3 pole positions.
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez claimed his 23rd MotoGP pole position in Austin, after stopping on track with just three minutes to go on Austin.
The reigning MotoGP World Champion had to run down the pit lane to retrieve his second bike with only seconds to spare as the clock ticked down on Q2.
Not even this could stop the Spaniard as he went on to set the fastest ever time on two-wheels around CoTA, a 2m02.135s, over sixth-tenths quicker than his previous lap record set in qualifying last year.
Marquez finished ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (+0.339s ) on the Ducati Team GP15, and Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.405s) who completed the front row.
Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi (+0.428s) will start from the front of the second row, with the Brits Cal Crutchlow (+0.478s) and Scott Redding (+0.539s) on their Factory spec Honda’s in fifth and sixth respectively.
The second factory Ducati of Andrea Iannone will start from seventh, with the Team Suzuki Ecstar of Aleix Espargaro (8th) finishing ahead of his brother Pol (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) in ninth.
Bradley Smith, Danilo Petrucci and Maverick Viñales will form the fourth row of the grid for Sundays race.
Earlier on, it was the Factory Ducati GP15 of Andrea Iannone and Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales who made it through from Q1.
Australian rookie Jack Miller was 19th on his CWM LCR Honda, posting a 2m05.156s to be classified fifth of the Open class entries.
Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Xavier Simeon took pole from Sam Lowes by just 0.054s at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.
Speed Up Racing’s Lowes had broken his own lap record from practice earlier on in the session to sit on top of the timesheets, before he once again crashed out.
The British rider deciding to not take any further risks after two big highside’s in Practice, and watched the rest of the session from his garage.
Simeon left it until his final lap to snatch the pole from Lowes, and take only his second-career Moto2 pole. Reigning Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (+0.189s) looked ominously quick on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing Kalex and will complete the front row for Sundays race.
Ajo Motorsports Johann Zarco (+0.214s) will start from the front of the second row, ahead of Franco Morbidelli (+0.247s) on the Italtrans Racing Team Kalex, and Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami (+0.302s).
Australian Anthony West will line up 13th on his QMMF Racing Speed Up entry.
Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent was a class above everybody else as he finished 0.485s ahead of the rest of the field to claim the Moto3 pole in Austin.
His lap time of 2m15.344s was the fastest-ever Moto3 lap recorded around the 5.5km circuit. The British rider seemingly in a league of his own as he was almost half a second faster than the rest of the field, beating Jack Miller’s pole time from last year by almost a second.
Winning the battle for second place was the Red Bull KTM Ajo bike of the Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (+0.485s), with the Italian Andrea Locatelli (+0.746s) on the Gresini Racing Team Moto3 Honda completing the front row.
Niccolo Antonelli (+0.757s) on the Ongetta-Rivacold Honda will head the second row ahead of the two Estrella Galicia 0,0 bikes of Jorge Navarro (+0.800s) and Fabio Quartararo (+0.806s).
Isaac Viñales will start from the front of the third row as the leading Husqvarna in seventh, with Enea Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia and the race winner from Qatar, Alexis Masbou, rounding out the top 10.
CIP Mahindra rider Remy Gardner will start from 27th on the grid, his best 2.550s off the pace of Kent’s pole position lap.