Aron Canet takes his second pole in three races, beating out Fermin Aldeguer and Sergio Garcia for the best spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Local rider Joe Roberts was able to qualify in fifth.
Some riders who would have go to through qualifying one were Celestino Vietti, 2023 Moto3 Champion Jaume Masia and FIlip Salac. After the first fast laps, Vietti was the fastest rider on the circuit, even when he had to make his way around other riders who were slow on the track.
Darryn Binder caused a yellow flag at the end of the session and was unable to set a lap time. Because of the yellow flag, Zonta van der Goorbergh’s fastest lap time was deleted. The Dutch rider the fastest through sector one and without the yellow flag could have made it through to the second qualifying session.
The four riders who went through to Q2 were Vietti, Masia, Albert Arenas and Diogo Moreira.
Celestino Vietti ends Q1 fastest 🔥@jaume_masia, @AlbertArenas75 and Diogo Moreira advance to Q2 as well 🙌#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/pPDtbHlnJf
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 13, 2024
The second qualifying session started, and all the riders went out within the first few minutes except Ai Ogura and Garcia. This was Jake Dixon’s first qualifying session of the season after the injury he sustained earlier in the season.
Canet’s first lap was cancelled due to exceeding track limits at turn one.
The early pace setter was Alonso Lopez who set a 2:08.231 on his Speed Up Racing Boscoscuro motorbike. This was slower than the time set by Vietti to progress from Q1 to Q2.
After the success of progressing to Q2, unfortunately Vietti crashed at turn four causing a yellow flag. Due to this, he was unable to set a lap time. There was also gravel on the track which the riders would need to avoid.
At the halfway point of the session, Canet was at the top of the timesheet from Barry Baltus, Marcos Ramirez and Dennis Foggia.
After finishing first in the second practice session, Arbolino was a lot of people’s choice for pole position, but he crashed at turn 15 causing a yellow flag in the third and fourth sectors. This led to some riders losing their lap times.
Another early crasher! 💥@TonyArbolino's difficult weekend continues 😔#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nacWCZz3Qm
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 13, 2024
Garcia and Aldeguer were going quick following the removal of the yellow flag and at the end of the second sector, both were around two tenths under Canet’s time and went up to the top of the timesheets.
As the only American racer in the field, all eyes were on Roberts also and he set his fastest lap which put him in fourth place but was bumped down by a few riders. He improved on his following lap and jumped up to third place, eclipsing his American Racing teammate, Ramirez.
The checkered flag came out and Canet was on another fast lap that looked as though it would be good enough for pole position and it was. He set a 2:07.631 that was unable to be beaten by any of the other riders, namely Lopez and Ramirez who looked close to setting the fastest time of the session.
For tomorrow’s race, Canet will head up the field from Aldeguer and Garcia. Arenas, Roberts and Ramirez populate the second row ahead of Foggia, Lopez and Gonzalez. Bo Bendsneyder rounded out the top ten.
| 2024 Moto2 COTA – Qualifying Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Aron Canet | SPA | Fantic Racing (Kalex) | 2m 07.631s |
| 2 | Fermin Aldeguer | SPA | Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) | 0.109s |
| 3 | Sergio Garcia | SPA | MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) | 0.188s |
| 4 | Albert Arenas | SPA | QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) | 0.234s |
| 5 | Joe Roberts | USA | OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) | 0.237s |
| 6 | Marcos Ramirez | SPA | OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) | 0.280s |
| 7 | Dennis Foggia | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) | 0.400s |
| 8 | Alonso Lopez | SPA | Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) | 0.432s |
| 9 | Manuel Gonzalez | SPA | QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) | 0.443s |
| 10 | Bo Bendsneyder | NED | Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) | 0.481s |
| 11 | Tony Arbolino | ITA | Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) | 0.496s |
| 12 | Barry Baltus | BEL | RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) | 0.511s |
| 13 | Jeremy Alcoba | SPA | Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) | 0.516s |
| 14 | Jake Dixon | GBR | CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) | 0.650s |
| 15 | Celestino Vietti | ITA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) | 0.680s |
| 16 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) | 0.734s |
| 17 | Ai Ogura | JPN | MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) | 0.830s |
| 18 | Jaume Masia | SPA | Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) | 0.881s |
| Q1 | ||||
| 19 | Somkiat Chantra | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) | 2m 08.479s |
| 20 | Filip Salac | CZE | Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) | 2m 08.599s |
| 21 | Deniz Oncu | TUR | Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) | 2m 08.601s |
| 22 | Senna Agius | AUS | Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) | 2m 08.617s |
| 23 | Izan Guevara | SPA | CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) | 2m 08.870s |
| 24 | Zonta van den Goorbergh | NED | RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) | 2m 08.930s |
| 25 | Mario Aji | INA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) | 2m 09.419s |
| 26 | Xavier Artigas | SPA | KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) | 2m 10.408s |
| 27 | Xavi Cardelus | AND | Fantic Racing (Kalex) | 2m 10.735s |
| 28 | Alex Escrig | SPA | KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) | 2m 11.109s |
| 29 | Darryn Binder | RSA | Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) | No Time |
Feature Image Credit: Fantic Racing