MotoGP | Gp Austin Qualifying: Bagnaia, record pole, Rins excellent second

MotoGP Gp Austin Qualifying – Stratospheric pole position by Pecco Bagnaia at COTA, Circuit of The Americas, third stage of the 2023 MotoGP.

The reigning Ducati champion set the new Austin track record with a time of 2:01.982, the only rider to "break down" the "wall" of two minutes and 02 minutes.

For Ducati it is the 73rd pole in MotoGP, a pole that arrived despite Alex Marquez (Ducati Gresini), who then finished fourth, trying in every way to stay close to the #1 "train", with the Spaniard then slipping without consequences.

On the front row with Bagnaia is an increasingly surprising Alex Rins, who this weekend was constantly at the top with the Honda of Team LCR. The former Suzuki rider is finding the right fit for the RC213V and has chosen different paths, discarding the chassis promoted by Marc Marquez, with the #93 Honda absent due to injuries sustained after the Portimao accident involving Jorge Martin and Miguel Oliveira .

Also on the front row was Luca Marini, who despite a crash in FP3, led the Ducati Desmosedici of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team just 0.289s from the top.

As mentioned above, Alex Marquez finished fourth and will therefore open the second row where we also find Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team) who passed from Q1 and Aleix Espargarò's Aprilia.

Fabio Quartararo, the only Yamaha in Q2, tried to limit the damage by finishing seventh, 0.857s from the top. Yesterday "El Diablo" had underlined how he lacked the flying lap, something confirmed in qualifying. In the third row with the Frenchman, Maverick Vinales' Aprilia and Johann Zarco's Ducati, the latter like Bezzecchi passed from Q1.

Fourth row for the KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder and for the Ducati of Jorge Martin, who crashed twice and only completed two laps.

Among others, Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha Factory), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati Gresini) and Ducati tester Michele Pirro had not passed the "hurdle" of Q1 and finished in 14th, 16th and 18th place respectively.

Jonas Folger's performance was embarrassing, as we remember he replaces the injured Pol Espargarò aboard the KTM of Team GASGAS. The German took over five seconds from the first place in Q1, a result that should give pause for thought. We remind you that this qualification is valid for both the Sprint Race line-up (which will take place this evening at 22pm Italian time) and that of the Sunday race (21pm Italian time).