Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Results Below:
If his rivals hadn’t yet taken the time to worry about Danny Kent’s fierce pace in practice, Saturday’s qualifying session will give them a full night to think about it.
Kent, who broke the lap record twice during FP3 earlier in the day, pulverized its remaining shards with a 2'15.344 lap that put him half a second clear of second fastest rider, Miguel Olivera. Andrea Locatelli managed to grab the final spot on the front row at nearly three quarters of a second behind Kent.
Kent's lap -- the fastest ever Moto3 lap at the COTA near Austin Texas -- was nearly a full second faster than Jack Miller’s pole time from the previous year.
The second row is an all-Honda affair with Niccolo Antonelli (4th), Jorge Navarro (5th) and the French sensation Fabio Quartararo (6th). Isaac Vinales leads the third row followed by Enea Batianini and Francesco Bagnaia (9th).
Qatar race winner Alexis Masbou completed the top ten.
Result:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff. / Prev. |
| 1 | 52 | Danny KENT | Honda | 2'15.344 | |
| 2 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 2'15.829 | 0.485 / 0.485 |
| 3 | 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Honda | 2'16.090 | 0.746 / 0.261 |
| 4 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Honda | 2'16.101 | 0.757 / 0.011 |
| 5 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | Honda | 2'16.144 | 0.800 / 0.043 |
| 6 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Honda | 2'16.150 | 0.806 / 0.006 |
| 7 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | Husqvarna | 2'16.335 | 0.991 / 0.185 |
| 8 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | Honda | 2'16.400 | 1.056 / 0.065 |
| 9 | 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Mahindra | 2'16.417 | 1.073 / 0.017 |
| 10 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | Honda | 2'16.576 | 1.232 / 0.159 |
| 11 | 41 | Brad BINDER | KTM | 2'16.735 | 1.391 / 0.159 |
| 12 | 88 | Jorge MARTIN | Mahindra | 2'16.849 | 1.505 / 0.114 |
| 13 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | Mahindra | 2'16.945 | 1.601 / 0.096 |
| 14 | 11 | Livio LOI | Honda | 2'16.954 | 1.610 / 0.009 |
| 15 | 17 | John MCPHEE | Honda | 2'16.992 | 1.648 / 0.038 |
| 16 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | Honda | 2'17.012 | 1.668 / 0.020 |
| 17 | 76 | Hiroki ONO | Honda | 2'17.173 | 1.829 / 0.161 |
| 18 | 95 | Jules DANILO | Honda | 2'17.434 | 2.090 / 0.261 |
| 19 | 5 | Romano FENATI | KTM | 2'17.469 | 2.125 / 0.035 |
| 20 | 98 | Karel HANIKA | KTM | 2'17.485 | 2.141 / 0.016 |
| 21 | 31 | Niklas AJO | KTM | 2'17.487 | 2.143 / 0.002 |
| 22 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | 2'17.518 | 2.174 / 0.031 |
| 23 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | 2'17.621 | 2.277 / 0.103 |
| 24 | 12 | Matteo FERRARI | Mahindra | 2'17.653 | 2.309 / 0.032 |
| 25 | 29 | Stefano MANZI | Mahindra | 2'17.659 | 2.315 / 0.006 |
| 26 | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | Mahindra | 2'17.894 | 2.550 / 0.235 |
| 27 | 2 | Remy GARDNER | Mahindra | 2'17.894 | 2.55 |
| 28 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | KTM | 2'17.941 | 2.597 / 0.047 |
| 29 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Mahindra | 2'18.024 | 2.680 / 0.083 |
| 30 | 91 | Gabriel RODRIGO | KTM | 2'18.303 | 2.959 / 0.279 |
| 31 | 6 | Maria HERRERA | Husqvarna | 2'18.631 | 3.287 / 0.328 |
| 32 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | 2'19.073 | 3.729 / 0.442 |
| 33 | 22 | Ana CARRASCO | KTM | 2'19.181 | 3.837 / 0.108 |
| 34 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | Mahindra | 2'19.253 | 3.909 / 0.07 |