Francesco Bagnaia flew to a first pole position of 2023 at the Circuit of the Americas, while overnight leader Jorge Martin will start 12th having crashed twice during Q2.
The 15 minute pole shootout began under dry – albeit cloudy – Texan skies, though drama ensued from the opening moments of the test as Martin crashed on his second lap of the test – his error allowing factory Ducati man Bagnaia to lead the opening runs on a 2:02.242s, with Gresini’s Alex Marquez posting an identical time to his fellow Ducati rider.
Things looked to be once again going Ducati’s way, though LCR Honda’s Alex Rins did his best to crash its party by firing to the head of the timesheets with his final effort, a 2:02.052s.
Bagnaia though managed to string together a blistering final gambit to streak across the line to record a 2:01.892s – a new MotoGP lap record of the COTA venue.
Martin’s hopes of replicating his flying Friday form were ultimately dashed by a second crash at Turn 2 on his final run, and with nobody else on a good enough effort – the challenge of Marquez fading after a crash at Turn 15 for the Spaniard – pole was Bagnaia’s.
Rins therefore had to settle for second just 0.160s down on the reigning premier class world champion, while Luca Marini completed the front row for the sprint race just under three-tenths-of-a-second from Bagnaia.
Marquez’s earlier lap was good enough to keep him fourth on the grid ahead of the second VR46 entry of Marco Bezzecchi, the Argentina Grand Prix victor bagging fifth despite having had to escape the clutches of Q1.
Aleix Espargaro slotted his Aprilia into sixth on the grid as he demoted Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo down a spot at the death, with the sister RS-GP of Maverick Vinales taking eighth.
Johann Zarco went from leading the way in Q1 to ninth on the grid for Pramac Ducati, the Frenchman just clear of Jack Miller’s KTM, his chances of moving further up the field undone by a pair of crashes, though he still managed to get the better of team-mate Brad Binder and Martin to round off the top ten.
Joan Mir narrowly missed out on a Q2 passage as he came just a tenth away from denying Bezzecchi, the factory Honda pilot ultimately laying claim to 13th just clear of the other factory Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli.
The returning Miguel Oliveira could do no better than 15th on his RNF Aprilia, while Michele Pirro was once again the best-placed of the replacement riders in 18th, his fellow stand-ins Stefan Bradl and Jonas Folger completing the 22-man field in 21st and 22nd respectively.
Keyword: Bagnaia streaks to COTA MotoGP pole as Martin crashes twice