First Start Maverick Vinales In MotoGP America
JAKARTA - Aprilia Racing racer Maverick Vinales won his inaugural pole in the 2024 season at the American MotoGP which took place at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Austin, Texas, USA, Saturday.
Vinales recorded a fastest round time of 2 minutes 00.864 seconds and was in front of newcomer Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GAS Tech3) and eight-time world champion Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing).
Askosta, who is only 0.328 seconds adrift of Vinales, took the second podium and will start the premier class race in the front row for the first time. The 19-year-old rider only needed three draws to achieve this achievement on his MotoGP debut.
Meanwhile, for Marquez, who has a margin of 0.402 from the sangpolesitter, this is his first front line in Gresini's uniform and Ducati's motorbike, after more than a decade with the Honda factory team.
Vinales started the qualifying session strong and immediately competed with other top riders such as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac), who controlled two training sessions and broke record laps at COTA.
However, Martin, who started confidently, instead made a mistake at Turn 11 and fell. Had time to rise and did not choose to return to the pits, the runner-up of MotoGP 2023 fell again in the next round. The incident made the Spaniard also have to settle for finishing in sixth position.
Defending champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) who lurked behind Martin immediately tried to seize the front position, and competed with his teammates, Enea Bastianini, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing).
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Bagnaia ended the qualifying session in fourth place with a difference of 0.488 seconds, while Bastianini and Espargaro were in fifth and seventh positions, respectively.
Completing the top 10 list are Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46), Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac), and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46).
A number of riders who last season triumphed in COTA, such as Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), to Luca Marini (Repsol Honda), looked difficult in this season's qualifying sessions and were in 15th, 16th, and 22.
Meanwhile, the American MotoGP series will resume on Sunday (14/4), with the Sprint race scheduled for 03.00 WIB. Meanwhile, the main race will be held on Monday (15/4) at 02.00 WIB.