We have good pace and starting from P5 means it’s easier to work out strategy for the race. They have done a great job throughout the weekend so far. “Today, I’m quite happy with the result, P5 is good, the team are happy. Tomorrow will be really difficult, we will try to take another step forward and be with the front group from the start.” Jorge Martin has qualified fourth as the second Ducati and top Independent Team rider (as well as top rookie), which is the seventh time on his 11th MotoGP start that is on the front two rows of the grid. “I am happy, I didn’t hope to start from the second row tomorrow but here we are.

But he has qualified third, which is his first front-row start since he was third at the 2020 Spanish GP (prior to his injury), 441 days ago. Marc Marquez failed to qualify on pole position for the first time since the Circuit of the Americas was introduced to the calendar in 2013.

We will try to make another step in Warm Up and continue this direction.” It’s my first front row of the season, which is strange to say but that’s how it is! With the used tyre I feel better than on the new tyre, our race pace is quite good. With the first tyre I felt OK and with the second tyre I found some traffic and I was on top of the time sheets so there was not much reason to push a lot. “I am really happy with this front row because Qualifying has been one of my weak points this season. Over his 35 previous front-row starts, he went on to finish 18 times on the podium (including seven of his eight premier class wins so far). Our pace isn’t looking so bad, and we will see which tyres we’ll use.” Fabio Quartararo has qualified second and starts from the front row for the 36th time (on what is his 48th race in MotoGP, 75%). It’s always great to start from the front row. I’m so happy because I didn’t feel so great during the practice sessions, but I went for it during qualifying. “It’s great to be on the front row, but I’m struggling to make that extra step in qualifying with the soft tyres. This is Bagnaia’s third successive pole, becoming the first Ducati to do so in three successive MotoGP events since Jorge Lorenzo in 2018 from Silverstone (although the race was cancelled) to Aragon. In FP4, I tried to follow Jack, who is proving to be very fast here in Austin, and that helped me a lot, so I thank him! Even though tomorrow won’t be an easy race, we’re ready to face this GP as we know that we can do well”. We have worked well, and we continued to make progress in every session.

Then we went back to the Misano setup, and my feeling with the bike improved a lot. “I’m thrilled because, at the beginning of this weekend, we were struggling a bit on this track. MotoGP Rider Quotes Francesco Bagnaia – P1 Here is what they had to say… 2021 COTA MotoGP Qualifyingġ Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 2:02.781Ģ Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +0.348ģ Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda – +0.428 The Frenchman is second once again to keep tabs on the Italian, with the aforementioned Sheriff of COTA, Marc Marquez, forced to settle for third – but it’s a first front row of the year as the eight-time World Champion continues his battle back to the front. Pulling out more than three-tenths at the top it makes Pecco only the second rider – after Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) – to start from pole in Texas, but he does have company from key Championship rival Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Francesco Bagnaia has qualified on pole for the fourth time in MotoGP along with Qatar, MotorLand and San Marino this year.

Motogp qualifying