- Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) starts from pole for the fifth successive year at the Grand Prix of the Americas and is aiming to take his fifth successive win at this circuit, which would be his 9th successive win in the MotoGP™ class in the USA. Marquez has not won in the last five races - since he clinched the 2016 world title with a victory in Japan. If he doesn’t stand on the top step of the podium in Austin it will equal his longest sequence of races without a victory since he moved up to the MotoGP™ class.
- In second place on the grid is Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), who could become just the second ever Yamaha rider to win the opening three premier-class GP races of the year, joining Kenny Roberts from 1980.
- Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) starts from the front row for the first time this year and will be aiming for a first win in the USA since Indianapolis in 2008.
- Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) heads the second row of the grid, his best qualifying result since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last year. Pedrosa finished second to his team-mate Marquez at Austin in both 2013 and 2014.
- Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) starts from the middle of the second row, making it three Yamaha riders in the top five places on the grid for the first time since the British GP two years ago. Zarco is both the highest placed Independent Team rider and top rookie on the grid.
- The top Ducati rider in qualifying for the first time is Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), in sixth place on the grid.
- Heading the third row is Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), who has been the first Ducati across the line three times in the four visits to Austin for MotoGP™.
- Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) starts from the middle of the third row, making it four Yamaha riders in the top eight places on the grid.
- In ninth place on the grid is Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) who will be aiming to finish on the podium for the first time in the USA.
- Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing), who starts from 10th place on the grid, was the top Independent Team rider across the line last year in Austin in sixth place - his best dry weather result of 2016.
- Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) is in 12th place on the grid – his best result in a fully dry qualifying session.