Bagnaia Takes Third Consecutive MotoGP Pole In Texas
Calum Gill 21:41 02/10/2021
Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia claimed his third consecutive MotoGP pole 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 Márquez, who was only third despite leading the pole shoot-out after the initial runs. Márquez, who followed Álex 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 02:02.781, Honda rider Márquez 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 Martín 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 (Red Bull KTM) and Pol Espargaró (Repsol 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 SRT 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. Álex Márquez (LCR Honda) will start from fifteenth place, ahead of Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) and Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM).
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) and Aleix Espargaró (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. Danilo Petrucci brought up the rear on the Tech3 KTM bike.
