Bagnaia denies Rins shock pole in offbeat COTA MotoGP qualifying

Defending MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia denied Alex Rins a shock Circuit of the Americas pole position in a memorably goofy qualifying session.

Bagnaia and Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez had set identical times on their opening runs in the pole shoot-out and, aware of the threat from Marquez, Bagnaia was clearly none too pleased to see the Spaniard attempt to follow him for their final attempts.

Pecco: No following, please 🛑

Alex Marquez: OK 👍#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/G5x7fyRyf1

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

As they took turns letting the other one through on their outlap, Marquez managed to end up behind the works Ducati rider for the start of the flying lap – but Bagnaia then got out of his way by getting Turn 11 wrong.

Marquez then proceeded to crash at Turn 15, while Bagnaia gathered himself for one final push, which amounted to a 2m01.892s, a new COTA lap record.

It was needed, too, with LCR Honda rider Rins – on top form so far this weekend at a track he’s been traditionally superb at – having taken provisional pole at that point.

VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini – angry at himself for a crash in practice that forced him to instead ride the spare bike that he doesn’t like – was a late improver in Bagnaia’s wheeltracks, vaulting himself onto the front row.

Marquez – the only Marquez competing this weekend with elder brother Marc, the ‘king of COTA’, absent through injury – salvaged fourth place on the grid, followed by VR46’s championship leader Marco Bezzecchi – who had fought through Q1 – and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Espargaro had been knocked down to seventh by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in the dying seconds, but then immediately reclaimed the spot, having run right behind Quartararo.

Yellow flags stymied Espargaro’s team-mate Maverick Vinales, who lost a lap that would’ve put him in the conversation for a front-row start and couldn’t quite string the sectors together after that, finishing only eighth.

Bezzecchi’s fellow Q1 graduate Johann Zarco was ninth, ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller, who had logged a memorable hour and a bit of running. Miller had his third crash of the weekend in the pre-qualifying 30-minute practice session, then crashed on his final run in Q2, remounted the bike and crashed it again while on for an improvement.

Despite this, he still outqualified KTM team-mate Brad Binder, who ended up 11th behind Miller.

A race against time now for @88jorgemartin! 💨

He slid out on his first fast lap attempt! 💥#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/F9YAW1EdaN

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

Another one to produce a double-crash Q2 was Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin. A remarkably fast first sector – one that was quicker than what Bagnaia managed in his pole lap – was followed by a fall, and Martin, struggling with illness this weekend, then crashed on his second run, too, his hands on his head in disbelief as he slid on the Tarmac. He will start 12th.

Back in Q1, Joan Mir was in position to progress to Q2 as the chequered flag flew, but struggled to follow up on his best lap and was left a sitting duck – with Zarco’s last-gasp improvement consigning him to a third straight Q1 exit to start his Honda career.

Joining him on the fifth row will be Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, who tucked in behind Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio on his fastest lap but was still four tenths away from getting into Q2, and RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira.

Oliveira’s team-mate Raul Fernandez continued his trend of single-lap struggles, although would’ve likely been higher than 19th had he not fallen off at Turn 2 late on – sending his year-old Aprilia sliding into the outside barrier.

Game over for @25RaulFernandez's qualifying 🛑#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/3LgojkvoCc

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

The only other Q1 crash was that of returnee Jonas Folger, who remounted after a minor Turn 11 tip-off but only wound up lapping five seconds off the pace.

Gas Gas rider Folger’s fellow injury stand-ins, Michele Pirro at Ducati and Stefan Bradl at Honda, both fared better but neither ever seriously threatened for Q2.

Pirro will be 18th on the grid, while Bradl will slot in three places behind.

Qualifying Results