Jack Miller to start second after thrilling Qualifying battle
Sunday, 10 April 2022
Ducatis rule in Texas.
Ducatis have fought out the top qualifying positions for the fourth round of the MotoGP™ at the Circuit of the Americas, taking the top five positions in an intimidating display of speed.
Australian Jack Miller and Spaniard Jorge Martin fought out a titanic battle, set up by Martin speeding his way out of the first Qualifying session so he could make it into the second.
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Miller led the times after the second runs of both of the riders, but Martin stormed through the final corners, to set a time of 2m02.039s, tipping the Australian off pole position by 0.003s.
“I couldn’t expect to be here today in pole position. Thanks to the team, they did an amazing job,” Martin said after his seventh pole in MotoGP.
“Pole position means a lot. We are fast, I enjoy a lot my time here. There are [many] Ducatis behind, they have good pace but I am fast also.”
Following a disastrous weekend in Argentina that saw him outside the top 10 last week, Miller was pleased to be on the front row.
“Stoked to be back on the front row, after last weekend, we needed it,” he grinned.
“I kind of panicked there a bit, I was point-four (0.4s) under on the third split, and I just kind of crapped my pants a bit. I didn’t want to mess up the final sector, and it probably cost me a little bit of time.
“The team is doing a fantastic job, and the rider’s come to ride this time.”
Bagnaia, who has scored just 12 points in the opening three races of the season, looks ominous for the race.
“I am very happy to be back on the front row. It has been tough for us this year in the Time Attack, we have improved a lot my front-end feeling.”
Martin’s Pramac Ducati teammate Johann Zarco took fourth place ahead of Enea Bastianini, who had a fall during the session.
The man who interrupted the party was Fabio Quartararo. He looked to be the man to challenge the Italian bikes, but the World Champion fell during his second lap at Turn 19. After hitching a ride back to the pits he managed to salvage sixth place on his Monster Energy Yamaha.
The French star will line up ahead of 2019 race winner Alex Rins and his Suzuki teammate Joan Mir. Their bikes look to have speed over longer runs, and cannot be discounted to challenge the Italian V4s in the race.
Marc Marquez is in ninth place, having returned from an episode of double vision, which caused him to miss the Argentine round. The Spanish legend has never qualified off the front row in Texas and is still likely to be a top-six contender for the race.
Fellow Honda rider Taka Nakagami took 10th place.
After an earlier fall at Turn 18 Tech3’s Remy Gardner will line up 22nd, just behind fellow RC16 riders Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez on what is shaping up as a challenging weekend for KTM.
In Moto3™ Qualifying, Joel Kelso will start the race from 18th place on the CIP Green Power KTM. Andrea Migno took pole position on his Honda.
