( CNN ) -- Marc Marquez barely held off the legendary Valentino Rossi in a nail-biting conclusion to the opening race of the 2014 MotoGP season in Qatar but judging by his performances this weekend the second race wo n't be as close . Marquez , the reigning world champion from Spain , finished well ahead of the pack Saturday in qualifying for the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin , setting a record lap time and beating Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa by 0.289 seconds . He was the fastest rider in practice yesterday , too . `` All weekend it has been going so well , but Sunday is the most important , '' Marquez told MotoGP 's website . `` We will have to push very hard the whole race . `` It will be an important start to the race when the tires are new , we can make a difference there before they start to slide . I 'm happy with the base we have and we 'll try to fight for the victory . I 'm sure we 'll be fighting with Pedrosa , he is our strongest rival . '' Germany 's Stefan Bradl starts third for LCR Honda , while two-time MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi , his fellow Yamaha racer , begin fifth and sixth , respectively . `` The progression from the first practice on Friday is very big , we were two seconds behind and now half a second , '' said Lorenzo . `` Anyway , as I thought , it 's going to be a hard race tomorrow . `` Our goal is to fight for fourth or third position . I think it would be a good result because here our competitors are really strong so we need to make the best result we can . To finish on the podium would be a good thing . ''
Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez is on pole Sunday in Austin . Marquez sets a record time in qualifying for Grand Prix of the Americas . The race will be broadcast live by FOX Sports 1 and streamed online at FOXsports.com beginning at 8 Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi start fifth and sixth , respectively .