An incredible return to victory for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) sees the Italian with one box left to tick to take a clean sweep in Texas. The Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas has provided plenty of action, but there's still plenty to play for on Sunday. Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of Sunday's billing.
1. Bagnaia has qualified on pole for the 12th time in MotoGP™, setting a new all-time lap record in Austin. On his 11 previous poles, he went on to finish on the podium on eight occasions (including five wins).
2. Rins, who is the only MotoGP™ Grand Prix winner at COTA on the grid this weekend, qualified P2, which is the first time he qualified within the top three since he qualified second in Portugal back in 2021.
3. It's the fourth time Luca Marini has qualified within the top three, all being thirds. On Sunday, he will be aiming to stand on the Grand Prix podium for the first time in MotoGP™.
4. Pole last time out in Argentina, Alex Marquez has qualified fourth and crashed out in the Sprint. He will now be aiming to win his first Grand Prix race since he stepped up to MotoGP™ in 2020. Fun fact: Casey Stoner took Ducati’s 27th win racing with the number 27. Bagnaia took their 63rd win when racing with #63. Marco Bezzecchi took the 72nd Ducati MotoGP™ win last time out in Argentina racing with #72… and Alex Marquez is currently racing with #73.
5. Despite coming through Q1, Championship leader Bezzecchi qualified P5 which is his second successive top five in qualifying. He finished P6 in the Sprint and will be aiming to take his second Grand Prix win, as well as his fourth podium in the class (which would be the first time he does so in three successive MotoGP™ races).
6. Fabio Quartararo qualified P7, which is the third successive time he has missed out on the top six in qualifying. He crashed in the Sprint but remounted to finish P19, failing to score any points. He will now be aiming to take a Grand Prix win for the first time since Germany last year.
7. Maverick Viñales, who has finished on the podium in MotoGP™ at COTA once before (P2 in 2018), qualified P8 for his worst qualifying result since he also qualified P8 in Malaysia last year. On Sunday, he could make MotoGP™ history by taking a Grand Prix win with a third different factory (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha).
8. After passing through Q1, Zarco qualified P9, which is the second time this year he has failed to qualify within the top six along with Portugal. He finished P11 in the Sprint and is still missing that maiden MotoGP™ win.
9. Jack Miller, who has finished on the podium twice in MotoGP™ at COTA, has qualified P10 as the top KTM, despite two crashes in Q2. He scored one point in the Sprint, finishing P9 and, like Viñales, is in the running to make MotoGP™ history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Honda and Ducati).
10. Brad Binder qualified P11 for his best qualifying result so far this year, despite already being a Sprint winner from 15th on the grid in Argentina.