Martin leads Ducati 1-2-3-4-5 in COTA MotoGP qualifying

Jorge Martin beat Jack Miller to pole for MotoGP’s Grand Prix of the Americas by 0.003s as Ducati secured the top five spots on the grid.

The Bologna marque already had its bikes locking out the top four – and factory duo Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia 0.008s apart at the top – after the initial attempts in the pole shoot-out, its dominance aided by Fabio Quartararo sliding off at the penultimate corner while on a lap potentially good enough for provisional pole.

The champ is down! 😮

The clock is ticking for @FabioQ20! 💨#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 | #GP500 pic.twitter.com/xsGWg4AGGB

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 9, 2022

Bagnaia then jumped a tenth and a half ahead of Miller with two minutes left on the clock, but the latter produced a swift response, his 2m02.042s finally surpassing Marc Marquez’s pole record from all the way back in 2015.

However, Martin – who had fought through Q1 – absolutely nailed his final sector to overcome a one-tenth deficit and snatch pole from Miller by 0.003s.

Bagnaia in third wound up 0.125s off pole but four tenths up on the rest of the pack, as Martin’s Pramac team-mate Johann Zarco and Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini completed the top five.

Bastianini, riding a year-old Ducati, was beaten by Zarco by just 0.008s late on. He had crashed on his initial run, but it was a very slow tip-off at Turn 15, allowing him to not only remount the bike but set what would wind up his best time.

Impressive from @Bestia23! 👏

Lose the front, pick it up, post a P4 lap time the next lap! 🤠#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 | #GP500 pic.twitter.com/m5uyU4PUGl

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 9, 2022

Quartararo recovered to score sixth, while the Suzukis of Alex Rins and Joan Mir completed the top eight, Rins having advanced through Q1 along with Martin.

The strategy of trying to follow Bastianini seemed to backfire for Marquez, with the Honda man – unbeaten at COTA in all but one race – having his first run compromised by Bastianini’s fall and failing to get a competitive lap in in the second.

Still, he was the top Honda man, followed by Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) in 10th and factory team-mate Pol Espargaro in 12th – with Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) slotting in between the latter duo.

Argentine Grand Prix winner Aleix Espargaro was a comfortable ‘best of the rest’ in Q1, having wrecked his chances of advancing to the second segment with a crash at Turn 8 with three minutes to go.

The reason why @AleixEspargaro will start 13th! 💥#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 | #GP500 pic.twitter.com/7UdmwotXT3

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 9, 2022

Despite this, he still ended up two tenths clear of Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales, who managed to secure 14th late on by going 0.012s quicker than Andrea Dovizioso (RNF Yamaha).

VR46 Yamaha’s Marco Bezzecchi was the top rookie in 16 th, while Brad Binder was the last rider within a second of Q1 pace-setter Martin another place down.

As in every previous qualifying of 2022, Binder was the top KTM, but this time he recorded by far his worst grid position of the season with 17th – while his stablemates placed between 20th and 22nd.

Along with the elder Espargaro, a pair of rookies – Tech3 KTM’s Remy Gardner and RNF Yamaha’s Darryn Binder – hit the deck during Q1.

Qualifying Results