Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia takes pole in MotoGP Sprint and Grand Prix races at Circuit of the Americas

Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia secured pole position in both the Sprint and Grand Prix races at the Circuit of the Americas, simultaneously setting a course record with his final sub-2:02 lap.

In less than ideal racing conditions, Bagnaia topped both the Saturday morning Free Practice session and qualifying. Ducati took four of the top five slots, with only Honda’s Alex Rins preventing a clean sweep.

Jack Miller of Red Bull crashed on hs KTM during the session but managed to finish in 10th place.

In the final practice session, Bagnaia put down a series of low 2:03 laps in the closing stages of the session to top the leaderboard.

In the first lap of qualifying, Alex Marquez and Bagnaia matched each other in a tense battle, but Marco Bezzecchi set the best time early.

Just a week out from his first career win, the championship front-runner had set a formidable pace.

In the second run, Marquez shadowed Bagnaia but fell. He lost his chance at a second consecutive pole, and will instead start from the second row.

No one could get near Bezzecchi’s time for quite a while. It seemed as though the real fight was for second place, but Johann Zarco’s final attempt overhauled Bezzecchi’s best effort.

Alex Rins was the next to provisionally take pole, but then the yellow flags flew.

Jack Miller crashed first, then Jorge Martin, and then Marquez.

Unfortunately for Rins and LCR Honda, Bagnaia’s final flying lap was supersonic.

It took a course record final lap – the first ever sub two minutes, two seconds at the Circuit of the Americas – to secure top spot.

Bagnaia will be on pole for the first time this season in the two races.

The Sprint is Saturday night at 9pm, and the Grand Prix is Sunday night at 8pm.