#AmericasGP MotoGP FP4: Márquez not slowed down by his morning falls!

If the light rain that fell early this morning is completely forgotten, this is not the case for the wind which is apparently indirectly the cause of the numerous falls that occurred in FP3.

Between the nine pilots who fell to the ground in the morning and the lap times improvements achieved by Maverick Vinales, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, Scott Redding, Jack Miller, Loris Baz and Tito Rabat, we are a little lost in the context to understand what is really happening today in MotoGP in Austin while we do not notice any series of falls in Moto3 and Moto2…

Anyway, Maverick Vinales scored big psychological points against a Marc Marquez which fell twice today, although the latter's second fall seemed to come from an electronic fault.

If many Honda riders improved their times, most of the Yamaha troops remained cautious this morning, while at Ducati and Suzuki, things are still grimacing.

This afternoon, the sky is gray, windy, the air is at 19° and the track at 28°.

Here are the references available at the start of this fourth free practice session which consists above all of working before doing a race simulation at race time:

#AmericasGP MotoGP	2016	2017
FP1	2'04.953 Marc Marquez	2'04.923 Maverick Vinales
FP2	2'04.034 Marc Marquez	2'04.061 Marc Marquez
FP3	2'03.741 Marc Marquez	2'03.979 Maverick Vinales
FP4	2'04.309 Marc Marquez
Q1	2'04.740 Bradley Smith
Q2	2'03.188 Marc Marquez
Warm Up	2'04.421 Andrea Iannone
Course	Marquez Lorenzo Iannone
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Marquez 2015

The session got off to a bad start for the reds with the stoppage ofAndrea Dovizioso following a mechanical problem.

Maverick Vinales, in medium front and hard rear, is followed like his shadow by a pack of drivers, which forces him to give up. In the meantime, John Zarco tries a soft rear tire to assess if he can use it in the race. This allowed him to achieve a 2'05.435, just behind Marc Márquez in 2'04.641.

Maverick Vinales, Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi, Jack Miller et Jorge Lorenzo take no time in joining the leading group, but it is still sparse with only the first four drivers within the same second.

Halfway through the session, Cal Crutchlow (medium/hard) enters the top five while Marc Márquez (medium/medium) increases the pace in 2'04.396.

During the second half of the session, we noted the improvements of the Ducatis of Dovizioso, Petrucci, Baz et Lorenzo, but it's Jack Miller who is doing the best deal by positioning himself in third place, just behind the two contenders for victory. However, he did not stay there long, quickly dethroned by a Dani Pedrosa which reminds us that we must not forget it in Texas…

The black cat doesn't leave Andrea Dovizioso who broke down again two minutes from the checkered flag while Dani Pedrosa fall at turn #1 and Sam Lowes at #2.

The final rush sees Johann zarco et Loris Baz lighting their partials in orange while driving together, which allows the latter to move from 13th to 8th place.

Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 04.201s [Lap 11/12] 333km/h (Top Speed)
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 04.658s +0.457s [11/12] 341km/h
3. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 04.760s +0.559s [6/12] 337km/h
4. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 05.213s +1.012s [10/13] 334km/h
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 2m 05.368s +1.167s [6/12] 337km/h
6. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 2m 05.388s +1.187s [12/12] 337km/h
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 05.438s +1.237s [5/7] 340km/h
8. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 05.698s +1.497s [10/10] 334km/h
9. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 05.732s +1.531s [5/12] 340km/h
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 2m 05.783s +1.582s [6/12] 335km/h
11. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 05.910s +1.709s [4/11] 336km/h
12. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 2m 05.952s +1.751s [6/9] 331km/h
13. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 06.032s +1.831s [9/12] 340km/h
14. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 2m 06.238s +2.037s [6/12] 333km/h
15. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 06.484s +2.283s [5/12] 341km/h
16. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 06.518s +2.317s [10/12] 329km/h
17. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 06.521s +2.320s [10/11] 340km/h
18. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 06.541s +2.340s [8/10] 332km/h
19. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 07.238s +3.037s [4/11] 342km/h
20. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 07.565s +3.364s [5/6] 337km/h
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 2m 07.827s +3.626s [4/8] 323km/h
22. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 08.797s +4.596s [3/11] 327km/h