MotoGP Austin Qualifying: Diggia on pole again, sparks fly between Marquez and Bezzecchi

In Q2 the fastest of all is Di Giannantonio, up front as in Brazil: plenty of thrills at COTA. Marquez on the second row

The much-anticipated Qualifying for the 2026 United States Grand Prix ended with pole position claimed by Fabio Di Giannantonio, his second in a row. Also on the front row in Austin are Marco Bezzecchi’s Aprilia and Pedro Acosta’s KTM.

MotoGP Qualifying began with Q1, the session that awards the remaining two spots for Q2. They were taken by Fermin Aldeguer with the BK8 Gresini Ducati and Joan Mir with the HRC team Honda. Raul Fernandez on the Trackhouse Aprilia was pipped and missed out by 19 thousandths. Rookie Diogo Moreira did well and will start from the fourteenth slot on the MotoGP grid in Austin. Alongside him will be teammate Johann Zarco.

Fabio Quartararo was the best Yamaha rider, but will only start from sixteenth position in Austin. Close to him is Toprak Razgatlioglu, who with the Prima Pramac team’s M1 was 192 thousandths slower than the Frenchman. Franco Morbidelli struggled badly, second to last on the grid with his VR46 Ducati. Only Alex Rins with the other factory team Yamaha did worse.

Di Giannantonio’s is a pole position with a record time. Almost 2 tenths handed to Bezzecchi, under investigation for an incident that angered Marc Marquez. The Aprilia rider may have impeded the Ducati rival during his time attack; we’ll see if there’s a penalty. In parc fermé, speaking to Sky Sport MotoGP, he commented: "I didn’t see, I slowed down because in front of me they practically stopped. So, I have no idea...". On the second row with MM93 (sixth) are also Pecco Bagnaia and Joan Mir, fantastic on his Honda RC213V after coming through Q1.

The third row is led by the Aprilia RS-GP26 of Jorge Martin, who at the start of the sprint and the race will be flanked by the Gresini Ducati of Alex Marquez and the HRC Honda of Luca Marini. On the fourth row we find Fermin Aldeguer, Ai Ogura, and Enea Bastianini. The Japanese rider is under investigation for a possible impeding of Bagnaia, a dynamic similar to the Bezzecchi-Marquez one. And there’s another episode involving Marquez and Bastianini in the sights of the Stewards Panel: in this case with Marc who may have hindered Enea on his flying lap. The grid could change; announcements are awaited.