For the fifth consecutive year, the reigning World Champion set the best time on the first day of free practice. He clocked 2'04.06, 1.9 off his personal best on the circuit, mainly due to the now very bumpy surface. He preceded his great rival Maverick Vinales by 0.390, who had to be content with third place because between the two Spaniards was Johann Zarco.
Since his first Grand Prix in Portugal in 125 cm3 in 2008, Marc Marquez has raced on all the circuits of the World, winning his first race at the Italian GP in 125 in 2010. He has participated in a total of 150 Grands Prix (46 in 125, 32 in Moto2, 72 in MotoGP), but no track has been as successful for him as that of Austin where he won four of his 55 victories (10 in 125, 16 in Moto2, 29 in MotoGP) in four organized on the Texas circuit.
This Friday, Marquez set the fastest time with a hard Michelin at the front and a soft one at the rear. Second in the first free practice session, 0.5 behind Maverick Vinales, Marc took the best time in both sessions combined, improving his time by a second and a half from one session to the next.
For Marc Marquez, “ This Friday everything went well and in the second session I started to feel more comfortable with the bike, but there are a few areas of adjustment where we need to continue working, especially for improve sensations with the front.
“It is positive that during the day we were able to do a lot of work and try all the tires, even the soft ones, to see how the bike reacts. In the afternoon we also took a step forward with the electronics, finding a fairly good base, although we also wanted to adjust other details to improve the behavior over bumps.
“I'm looking forward to Saturday, to continue the good work on the bike as well as on myself. I also think I can improve T4. »
What is this famous T4? This is the fourth and final part of the circuit, which includes the very long 180° right and the two lefts which precede the start-finish line. In the first part (T1) Marquez is brilliant as he is second at 0.006 from Iannone, then he clearly dominates in T2 and T3. On the other hand in T4 he has a huge margin for improvement because he only achieved the thirteenth intermediate in 28.704, which was far from the best partial achieved by Johann Zarco in 28.394.
Marc's ideal time was 2'03.980, obtained by adding up his four fastest split times.
Combined ranking of the first two sessions (compiled by our friends at Crash.net):
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 04.061
2. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
2m 04.347s +0.286
3. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 04.451s +0.390
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 04.806s +0.745
5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 04.811s +0.750
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 04.830s +0.769
7. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 2m 05.005s +0.944
8. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
2m 05.033s +0.972
9. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 05.116s +1.055
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
2m 05.142s +1.081
11. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17)
2m 05.282s +1.221
12. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 05.284s +1.223
13. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 05.463s +1.402
14. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 2m 05.468s +1.407
15. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 05.584s +1.523
16. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 05.602s +1.541
17. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 05.943s +1.882
18. alex rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 2m 06.155s +2.094
19. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 06.358s +2.297
20. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 06.503s +2.442
21. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 06.709s +2.648
22. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
2m 06.741s +2.680
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 07.434s +3.373
Photos © Repsol Media
