Bagnaia ends Marquez’s COTA MotoGP pole streak

Ducati MotoGP rider Francesco Bagnaia claimed his third consecutive pole in the premier class in qualifying for the Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA.

In taking first place, Bagnaia ended a run of COTA poles for Honda rider Marc Marquez, who was only third despite leading the pole shoot-out after the initial runs.

Marquez, who followed Alex Rins on his initial run and looked to settle in behind practice pace-setter Jack Miller for his second attempt, didn’t improve late on but had done enough to stay on the front row.

Aside from Bagnaia’s 2m02.781s, Honda rider Marquez was also beaten by Yamaha’s points leader Fabio Quartararo, who will start Sunday’s race right behind his main championship rival.

Pramac Ducati riders Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco will be on the second row in fourth and sixth respectively, with LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami slotting in between the pair.

The Suzuki duo of Rins and Joan Mir completed the top eight, while Avintia Ducati rookie Luca Marini – who topped Q1, progressing alongside Mir – followed Bagnaia en route to a ninth-place grid position.

Miller, who looked a favourite for pole after his imperious FP3 performance, didn’t get a proper push lap in on his second run and ended up only 10th, with Brad Binder (KTM) and Pol Espargaro (Honda) completing the Q2 order.

Yamaha works rider Franco Morbidelli was fastest of those eliminated in Q1, but was still over three tenths away from advancing at the expense of Mir.

Andrea Dovizioso, who has taken over Morbidelli’s former Petronas Yamaha ride, rose to an impressive fourth at the chequered flag in the first segment, with team-mate Valentino Rossi only 10th – having gone down at significant speed at Turn 6 on his final attempt.

No Q2 appearance for The Doctor! ❌

A crash for @ValeYellow46 leaves him tenth 💢#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zzuDoJFcD6

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 2, 2021

Miguel Oliveira (KTM) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) will line up right ahead of Rossi in 18th and 19th respectively, both having fallen on their first Q1 runs.

For Espargaro, the Turn 12 fall came after a previous Turn 12 fall in FP3 and a Turn 2 fall in FP4 as his RS-GP got unsettled by a bump – meaning it was remarkable that he got to rejoin Q1 after his crash.

Qualifying Results