Pecco Bagnaia is on a wave of glory in MotoGP right now, achieving his third pole position in a row at Austin after two back to back wins on his Ducati Lenovo.

Despite the controversial challenges found at the Circuit of the Americas, and a difficult start to  the weekend for the 24-year-old Italian, Bagnaia has once again found his confidence ahead of Sunday’s AmericasGP.

“I take some risk to do it,” he said of his stellar qualifying lap “but this morning I was more in trouble. Then we decided to try to let the bike follow better the bumps and from that we are coming back to the setting of Misano and everything was better. I started to have better feeling in FP4 and in Q2 I was able again to have the same feeling.

“It was possible, was easier for me to push more and then when I see that after the first sector I was down two-tenths I tried to push more. I'm very happy because we started this weekend a bit in trouble and now we are again on top so I'm very happy.

It was unexpected, this morning but then after FP4, seeing that it was possible to do it, because my feeling grow a lot, I was expecting to be fast in qualifying. Is always very important to start from pole position. The main objective is always the front row, but in pole position is all the way better. I'm starting with Fabio, but I try to make the best start ever to stay remaining in front

“Will be more difficult this time to see if I will able to stay in front because I see the pace of Marc [Marquez] or Fabio [Quartararo] or Jack [Miller] and they have a better pace in this moment,” he continued, reflecting on the potential of Sunday’s race compared to his recent successive win tally.

“But it's also true that I found again a great feeling in Q2 so I don't know. I'm sure that Marc will try to push from the start and open a gap and this track, the key will be to stay more constant as possible because it's very difficult to don't make mistakes with these bumps. So let's see. I'm quite sure that we can fight to stay on top but let's see.”

COTA is throwing up more challenges than just the technical nature of the vast circuit, with the surface repeatedly coming under criticism from the riders due to the ageing asphalt and ever increasing bumps.

“I think that normally the race pace is slower than the qualifying and in qualifying we have risked more with these bumps,” Bagnaia explained. “But the thing is that with this type of bumps that every time the bike do something different, it's very difficult to remain constant. But this is it. We have to race and I think that where are the bumps is impossible to overtake so let's see. I think that the pace will be a little slower to remain more clean on your head or more smart during the race.”

Valentino Rossi - the last Italian to secure three consecutive pole positons, back in 2009 -  commented on the impressive nature of his protege’s achievement, Bagnaia however, is playing it down somewhat.

“Means that I did three points in a row,” he answered simply, when asked what it meant to him. “I'm happy but I think doesn't change too much. We are here just to try to open the championship, and the best position to start is pole position and we achieve it again, but doesn't change too much, I think.”

This season has witnessed the Italian fully getting to grips with the Desmosedici as part of the factory team, after struggling somewhat on his entry to the MotoGP Championship with the Pramac squad.

“When I start with Ducati I was always crashing, my feeling was never very good, and I was trying to push but my riding style was not adapting, so well to the Ducati,” Bagnaia explained.

“Because in Moto2 I was always with a lot of corner speed and in Moto2 you can't break so hard because the rear is sliding, always. So when I arrive to MotoGP in the first test, I was fast, but just because I was doing time attack. And is something that I learn after, because in MotoGP, the top riders never do time attack, apart from maybe the first test of the season.

“From Qatar we've started to work with used tyres, I was in trouble and I was not feeling good and until this year, I was always without a great feeling. Last year I did some good races. I think two good races, or three, but this year I think I changed a bit my mentality on the bike. I feel that I know very well this bike and I adapt very well on the braking, because now in the braking, I can stop the bike very good, and I feel great. Also I adapt the setting of my Ducati to my riding style for the corner speed because our bike is not so fast in the middle of the corner but this year we did a good job and now the bike is more sweet for that.”