MotoGP Austin Race LIVE: Marc Marquez rides his bump in Texas ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia

InFor this Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Francesco Bagnaia qualified on pole for the fourth time in MotoGP with Qatar, MotorLand and San Marino this year. This is Bagnaia's third consecutive pole, becoming the first Ducati rider to achieve this performance in three successive MotoGP events since Jorge Lorenzo in 2018, from Silverstone (although the race was canceled) to Aragon.

With this pole position, bagnaia became the first Italian driver to take three pole positions in a row since Valentino Rossi in 2009 (from Sachsenring to Brno). This Sunday, bagnaia will attempt to become the second Ducati rider to achieve three consecutive victories with Casey Stoner who did it twice: once in 2007 and once in 2008. Moreover, it is only the third pole position for a Ducati rider in MotoGP on American soil since 2007 and 2008 with Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca.

fabio quartararo qualified in second position and starts from the front row for the 36th time for his 48th MotoGP race, giving a success rate of 75%. In his 35 front row starts, he has finished on the podium 18 times, including seven of his eight premier class victories so far. Fun fact: this is the seventh consecutive MotoGP race that the top two in the championship, Quarterly et bagnaia, share the first row of the grid.

Marc Marquez failed to qualify from pole position for the first time since the Circuit of the Americas was introduced to the calendar in 2013. But he qualified in third position, which is his first front row start since his third place at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2020, 441 days ago. This is the first time that a Honda has not taken pole on American soil since Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) at Laguna Seca in 2012.

George Martin qualified in fourth position as the second Ducati rider and first rider of an Independent Team as well as best rookie? This is the seventh time on his 11th start in MotoGP which is on the first two rows of the grid. Takaaki Nakagami qualified in fifth position, which is the third time since the start of the year that he has started from the first two rows of the starting grid, as in Jerez and Assen.

Johann zarco qualified in sixth position, which is the 13th time this year out of 15 that he has started from the first two rows of the grid. He will attempt to reach the podium for the first time since his second place in Catalonia this season.

Winner in 2019 in Austin, alex rins qualified in seventh position for his best qualifying result since Assen earlier this year. After going through Q1, the 2020 World Champion Joan mir qualified in eighth position for his third best result of the season. Of his 12 MotoGP podiums so far, eight of them have come after failing to start from the front two rows.

Luca marini qualified in ninth position after making it through Q1, for the second best qualifying result of his rookie season so far after Portugal where he was eighth. For now, Marini's best result in MotoGP is fifth place in Austria.

Jack Miller, who is the only non-Italian and non-Spanish rider to reach the MotoGP podium in Austin, qualified 10th for his worst qualifying result since his 14th place at the Teruel Grand Prix last year.

What will this Grand Prix of the Americas have in store for us on the much-maligned Austin track, which marks the fifteenth of the eighteen rounds of this MotoGP season? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP ™	2019	2021
FP1	2'05.311 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'15.872 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP2	2'03.857 Maverick Viñales (See here)	2'04.164 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP3	Canceled due to storms (See here)	2'02.923 Jack Miller (See here)
FP4	2'05.478 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'04.028 Jack Miller (See here)
Q1	2'05.855 Jorge Lorenzo (See here)	2'03.410 Luca Marini (See here)
Q2	2'03.787 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'02.781 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Warm up	2'04.573 Marc Marquez (See here)	2'04.074 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Course	Rins, Rossi, Miller (See here)	Mr. Marquez, Quartararo, Bagnaia
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Márquez 2015

31° in the air and 40° on the track, all under a mild sky, will be the conditions offered to the drivers for 20 laps of the race which will be a real tour de force.

While waiting for the start of hostilities, here are the live images…

They left and at the end of the first turn it was Marquez who came out in the lead ahead of Bagnaia and Quartararo. Quartararo quickly passes the Ducati rider.

Rins burst out very strongly and got the better of Bagnaia, he was 3rd. Bagnaia in 4th position seems very cautious, he is ahead of Martin, Nakagami, Mir, Binder, Miller and Zarco

Martin attacks Bagnaia and it passes, the Pramac driver is 4th.

Nakagami crashes in turn 12.

In front Marquez holds his own in front of Quartararo, Rins, Martin and Bagnaia.

Martin attacks Rins to gain 3rd position but in vain, the Suzuki driver responds, he retains his 3rd position. But in the straight the faster Ducati does the trick, Martin is now 3rd.

Zarco falls in the. turn 1.

Big fight for the gain of 6th position between Miller, Mir and Binder…

Martin now goes after Quartararo; he becomes threatening, he passes the Frenchman but when braking, the Niçois is stronger..

The top10 is as follows with 15 laps to go: M. Marquez, Quartararo, Martin, Miller, Rins, Bagnaia, Binder, Mir, P.Espargaro and Bastianini.

And meanwhile in front of Mr. Marquez unfolds...and widens the gap: 1.556s on Quartararo

Quartararo has gained some air on his pursuer Martin, the Pramac driver is 0.508s behind.

A.Espargaro crashes in turn 13. 5th crash this weekend…

Pecco's awakening??

There are 10 laps left to complete and the top10 positions are occupied by: M.Marquez at the front followed by Quartararo, Martin, Miller, Bagnaia, Rins, Mir, Binder, Bastianini and P.Espargaro.

Miller is under threat from his teammate Bagnaia who is coming back strong. Miller lets Bagnaia pass. The Italian driver is now 4th. Objective now, Martin who is however 2s ahead...he will have 7 laps to achieve it.

Team instructions or Miller's common sense??

The top10 is the following with 6 laps to go: Marquez who is 3.776s ahead of Quartararo, Martin, Bagnaia, Miller, Rins, Mir, Binder, Bastianini and P.Espargaro.

Rins ends up passing Miller. The Suzuki rider is now 5th.

The gap between race leader Marquez and Fabio continues to grow..4.145s.

Martin seems to be in difficulty...or not! Bagnaia is in his saddle...the explanation is perhaps there. the championship is the priority..Willful or not?

Long lap penalty for Martin for shooting straight..Bagnaia passes and thus takes 3rd position on the podium.

Last round…

Mr. Marquez at the forefront in front of Quartararo and Bagnaia!

Victory for Marquez ahead of Quartararo and Bagnaia. Rins and Martin (after his long lap) complete this top5

Miller and Mir explain themselves following a racing incident in the last corner: the two drivers were knocked into the post by Bastianini.

The Champion of the day is Mr. Marquez! 7th victory in Austin!

MotoGP Austin Course: standings

Credit classification motogp.com