2023 Austin MotoGP Qualifying Result: Another Record Goes

After a wet start in the morning, qualifying managed to get underway on dry tarmac and allowed premier class riders to take on the rodeo at full speed. Although Q2 started a bit rough for Ducati, with Jorge Martin immediately losing his status as one of the favourites in the gravel at turn seven, Pecco Bagnaia more than made up for it in the end, by setting a new all time lap record on his final flying lap. Alex Rins also enjoyed some time in the limelight, in provisional pole with one minute left of the session, and although he had to hand if back to the world champion at the chequered flag, the Honda man starts from the middle of the front row on one of his favourite playgrounds on the calendar. Even though Bagnaia spent a considerable amount of time shaking off pursuers, Luca Marini managed to follow his lead, quite literally, and secure the final place on the front row.

Alex Marquez was on pole-sitting pace after the first run, having posted an identical time to Bagnaia, but the duo got distracted trying to shake each other off in their next outing and Marquez came out on the losing end, with a late tumble at turn 15. That eventually cost him a front row start but the Gresini man kept close on row two, ahead of Q2 graduate Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia veteran Aleix Espargaro. Fabio Quartararo had a tough session, at the bottom of the top 10 after the first outing, but fought back to claim seventh, sharing third row with Maverick Viñales and Q1 leader Johann Zarco.

Jack Miller had a pretty shocking 15 minutes of Q2, fitting in two crashes at turns 1 and 14 and having to settle for 10th, ahead of teammate Brad Binder. However, the most disappointed man of the day would have been Martin, who bookended his session with crashes at turns 7 and 2 and will have to start from the back of fourth row. Joan Mir had a good go at Q2 but came up two tenths short and settled for 13th on the grid, ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Miguel Oliveira.

Results:

Pos	No.	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Prev
1	1	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	2:01.892
2	42	Alex Rins	Honda	2:02.052	0.160	0.160
3	10	Luca Marini	Ducati	2:02.181	0.289	0.129
4	73	Alex Marquez	Ducati	2:02.242	0.350	0.061
5	72	Marco Bezzecchi	Ducati	2:02.268	0.376	0.026
6	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	2:02.539	0.647	0.271
7	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	2:02.749	0.857	0.210
8	12	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	2:02.882	0.990	0.133
9	5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	2:03.062	1.170	0.180
10	43	Jack Miller	KTM	2:03.084	1.192	0.022
11	33	Brad Binder	KTM	2:03.107	1.215	0.023
12	89	Jorge Martin	Ducati	2:03.292	1.400	0.185
		Q1 Results:
Q2	5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	2:02.387
Q2	72	Marco Bezzecchi	Ducati	2:02.523	0.136	0.136
13	36	Joan Mir	Honda	2:02.743	0.356	0.220
14	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	2:02.950	0.563	0.207
15	88	Miguel Oliveira	Aprilia	2:03.065	0.678	0.115
16	49	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Ducati	2:03.350	0.963	0.285
17	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	2:03.403	1.016	0.053
18	51	Michele Pirro	Ducati	2:03.452	1.065	0.049
19	25	Raul Fernandez	Aprilia	2:03.527	1.140	0.075
20	37	Augusto Fernandez	KTM	2:03.798	1.411	0.271
21	6	Stefan Bradl	Honda	2:03.907	1.520	0.109
22	94	Jonas Folger	KTM	2:07.597	5.210	3.690