Alex Marquez stole pole position away from Sam Lowes in the closing stages of Moto2 qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas, while weekend pacesetter Miguel Oliveira struggled to a low-key 12th.
With the threat of rain present, Marquez wasted no time in attempting to cement his second pole of the season, the Marc VDS rider setting the early pace with a 2:11.474s, and bettering it to a 2:10.745s.
Marquez's lap stood as the benchmark until the final 12 minutes of the session, when Lowes guided his CGBM KTM to a 2:10.744s.
The former CoTA race winner in the Moto2 class looked to have secured pole, but was denied with two minutes to go by Marquez with a 2:10.588s.
Lowes was unable to respond, but still held onto second for his first front row start since the 2017 Phillip Island race, while Mattia Pasini completed the top three for his best qualifying result of the opening races.
Francesco Bagnaia put Pasini's place on the front row under threat as he started his final lap, but a mistake at Turn 4 ended the Sky VR46 rider's hopes, and was resigned to fourth ahead of the second Marc VDS bike of rookie Joan Mir.
Luca Marini will join his Sky VR46 team-mate on row two, the Italian edging ahead of Dynavolt duo Xavi Vierge and Marcel Schrotter.
Fabio Quartararo secured his highest grid position since qualifying third for the Malaysian Grand Prix last season, the Speed Up rider jumping up to ninth at the death with a 2:11.282s.
Isaac Vinales rounded out a top 10 which did not feature either of the Red Bull Ajo KTM's, with Friday and FP3 pacesetter Oliveira a lowly 12th, while team-mate Brad Binder was a further four places behind in 16th.
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