Alvaro Carpe earned pole position during Moto3 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Circuit Of The Americas, in Texas. Riding his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine on Pirelli control tires, Carpe turned a lap time of 2:12.107. Not only was that good enough to lead the 25-rider field, it was also good enough to break his own 2026 All-Time Lap Record of 2:13.190, which he set this morning in FP2.
Casey O’Gorman was the best of the rest with a 2:12.519 on his SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda, and Valentin Perrone claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 2:12.526 on his Red Bull KTM Tech3 machine.
Row-two qualifiers included Honda Team Asia’s, Veda Pratama (2:12.813), Leopard Racing’s Guido Pini (2:12.837) and Level Up MTA’s Joel Esteban (2:12.869).
moto3 qp
More from a press release issued by MotoGP:
Carpe can’t be caught for stunning COTA pole. The #83 heads the grid, with O’Gorman putting Ireland on the front row ahead of Perrone in third.
Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took a stunning pole position in Texas, setting a 2:12.107 to lead the way by over four tenths. Casey O’Gorman (SC58 Squadra Corse) takes second to lead the chasers, with Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) just 0.007 off O’Gorman in a tight front row.
There was only one name really on top in the session. By a few minutes left on the clock, Carpe was already leading the way, and then the #83 put in another stunner. Over half a second clear with a minute left, the gauntlet was thrown down.
O’Gorman, already the rider in second and the only rider within seven tenths of the top, was closest through the first sector next time round but it was starting to get busy out on track. The Irishman was able to cut down the deficit to the top to 0.412, but could get no closer.
Row 2 is headed by rookie Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) after another stunner from the Indonesian rider. He also looked on to improve before a track limits infringement cancelled his last attempt. Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) and Joel Esteban (LEVELUP – MTA) complete Row 2.
Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) is P7, with a scrappy session for Championship leader Maximo Quiles (CFMoto Valresa Aspar Team) seeing him forced to settle for eighth. Rookie Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3) takes ninth on his first visit to COTA, with Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) taking 10th.
Check out full Moto3 qualifying results from the Red Bull US GP and come back for more on race day as Moto3 take on COTA!
