Maverick Vinales breaks lap record to claim pole for Americas MotoGP

Maverick Vinales broke the lap record at the Americas Grand Prix to claim his first MotoGP pole of the 2024 season as championship leader Jorge Martin suffered two crashes.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales is set to start the 2024 Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP from pole position after overpowering his rivals in qualifying at COTA as Pedro Acosta achieved yet another career record after securing the second spot on the front row.

After securing his maiden race win as an Aprilia Racing rider at the Portuguese MotoGP Sprint Race the last time round, Vinales was on fire in Q2. The Aprilia rider recorded the fastest time of 2:00.864 seconds to secure the top honours, three tenths ahead of GASGAS KTM rookie Pedro Acosta and Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez.

Vinales led the way right from the first fifteen minutes of the Q2 session while pole favourite Jorge Martin suffered two crashes.

The Pramac Ducati rider started the session with a tumble at Turn 11, which was not as serious as he managed to get back on his machine, and decided to attempt another time attack without stopping, only to lose the rear as he came off Turn 18 right-hander in the same lap.

Martin had to rush to the pits to get his spare Ducati GP23 and eventually made his way back to the track with a timing good enough for sixth place after completing a flawless lap. Meanwhile, Factory Ducati duo Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini settled for fourth and fifth place on a second row that they will share with Martin.

Although Vinales was the clear leader in pole, his Aprilia Racing teammate Aleix Espargaro, had to settle for seventh following a quick detour at the loop that ran from Turn 1 to Turn 2.

Nevertheless, he managed to hold onto seventh ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio di Giannantonio as Marco Bezzecchi turned out to be the only rider to retire early, having struck the deck at Turn 1 late in the session.

On the other hand, Q1 qualifiers Jack Miller and Alex Marquez finished Q2 in 11th and 12th place for KTM and Gresini Ducati, respectively. It was up to the others to occupy the remaining spots from 13th to 22nd, with Miller and Marquez being the riders that made advances in Q1.

Trackhouse Racing duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira were among those who were not present for the pole-deciding run for their home event as they fifinished two and three tenths behind the leaders in 13th and 14th place, respectively.

The factory Yamahas piloted by Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo, trailed the Aprilia pair. Rins, the winner of the 2023 Grand Prix of the Americas, will start from 15th place, while Quartararo ended his session with a slip-off at Turn 1 in the final moments taking 16th place.

Brad Binder was the biggest disappointment after finishing down in 17th after an even more challenging start to Saturday’s track action following a low-key Friday.

The KTM Factory Racing rider was already disadvantaged after missing the cut for Q2 as he crashed early at Turn 11 and despite the fact he got back on and pitted for some minor repairs, he was unable to get back to form in his last time attack.

Meanwhile, Honda, whose LCR satellite team surprised everyone by winning at COTA last year, carried on with its dismal American action, with riders Johann Zarco finishing 19th, Joan Mir 20th, Luca Marini 21st, and Takaaki Nakagami 22nd.

2024 Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP Qualifying Results