Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia takes pole in MotoGP Sprint and Grand Prix races at Circuit of the Americas
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Updated 15/04/2023 at 23:01 GMT+1
Francesco Bagnaia secured pole position in both the Sprint and Grand Prix races at the Circuit of the Americas, with a record-setting sub-2:02 lap in MotoGP history at COTA. Johann Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi passed Q2 at the cost of Joan Mir, who will start the races from 13th. Bagnaia set the early pace in Q2, and Alex Rins set a provisional pole position lap, but Bagnaia's final lap was flying.
Pecco Bagnaia, GP delle Americhe, Getty Images
Image credit: Getty Images
Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia secured pole position in both the Sprint and Grand Prix races at the Circuit of the Americas, simultaneously setting a course record with his final sub-2:02 lap.
In less than ideal racing conditions, Bagnaia topped both the Saturday morning Free Practice session and qualifying. Ducati took four of the top five slots, with only Honda's Alex Rins preventing a clean sweep.
Jack Miller of Red Bull crashed on hs KTM during the session but managed to finish in 10th place.
In the final practice session, Bagnaia put down a series of low 2:03 laps in the closing stages of the session to top the leaderboard.
In the first lap of qualifying, Alex Marquez and Bagnaia matched each other in a tense battle, but Marco Bezzecchi set the best time early.
Just a week out from his first career win, the championship front-runner had set a formidable pace.
In the second run, Marquez shadowed Bagnaia but fell. He lost his chance at a second consecutive pole, and will instead start from the second row.
No one could get near Bezzecchi's time for quite a while. It seemed as though the real fight was for second place, but Johann Zarco’s final attempt overhauled Bezzecchi’s best effort.
Alex Rins was the next to provisionally take pole, but then the yellow flags flew.
Jack Miller crashed first, then Jorge Martin, and then Marquez.
Unfortunately for Rins and LCR Honda, Bagnaia’s final flying lap was supersonic.
It took a course record final lap - the first ever sub two minutes, two seconds at the Circuit of the Americas - to secure top spot.
Bagnaia will be on pole for the first time this season in the two races.
Bagnaia took out the sprint race without any difficulty on Saturday night, while Fabio Quartararo crashed and finished 19th, far from the points. The Italian dominated the race from the start. Quartararo and Johann Zarco had a good start, with both of them rising to 4th and 5th positions after the first turn.
However, Quartararo crashed in the middle of the race while battling his machine, and Zarco fell to 11th place in the final lap, losing his chance at earning any points. Jorge Martin defended his position on the podium in the final turns and finished 3rd, behind Alex Rins (2nd).
The Grand Prix is Sunday night at 8pm.
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