Austin MotoGP FP1: Marc Marquez. Who else? Vinales?

Arriving at the COTA (Circuit Of The Americas) in Austin, Texas, the MotoGP riders obviously all have in mind the reign without the slightest task of Marc Márquez on the American track: in 2013 he became the youngest rider to have won pole. position and also the youngest to achieve victory in the premier category, records which previously belonged to Freddie Spencer, the Spanish rider then repeated these results in the last five editions, winning each time after qualifying in pole position!

In these conditions, and even if every series has an end, the suspense risks focusing on obtaining 2nd place, with also a little question about the planing work carried out to try to eliminate the bumps in a coating subjected to pressure from the subsoil.

The weather conditions are mild, with 15° in the air and 20° on the ground.

Here are the available references, with a track record still dating from the Bridgestone era:

MotoGP ™	2018	2019
FP1	2'05.530 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'05.311 Marc Márquez
FP2	2'04.599 Andrea Iannone (See here)
FP3	2'04.608 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP4	2'04.686 Marc Márquez (See here)
Q1	2'05.169 Pol Espargaró (See here)
Q2	2'03.658 Marc Márquez (See here)
warm up	2'04.988 Marc Márquez (See here)
Course	Marquez, Vinales, Iannone (See here)
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Márquez 2015

When the red lights go out, it's Pol Espargaro who rushes first, followed by Hafizh Syahrin et Johann zarco : the oranges are in a hurry! (pardon!)

When it comes to tires, we hardly ask any questions since the combination soft front/mid rear unanimously.

After a round, Cal Crutchlow et Tito Rabat return to their box.

From the first round launched, Marc Márquez is quick to get into the rhythm and leaves a gap of one second in front of the duo Maverick Vinales/Valentino Rossi, in 2'09.369.

On the next pass, the Honda driver went down in 2'06.983, or 1,7 seconds ahead Valentino Rossi et Johann zarco.

One loop later, Marc Márquez in 2'06.252 is 2 seconds ahead of Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco separated by only a thousandth.

Valentino Rossi then reduced the gap a little with the untouchable Spaniard to 1,3 seconds, while Cal Crutchlow achieves the best top speed in 347,7 km.

Following his momentum from the Argentine Grand Prix, the Doctor seems particularly quick to get into the rhythm and gets within 9 tenths of number 93 before the end of a first run which presents the following hierarchy: Marc Márquez, Valentino Rossi, Aleix Espargaró, Jack Miller, Álex Rins, Pol Espargaró, Andrea Dovizioso, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir and Karel Abraham.

Johann zarco is then 11th, Cal Crutchlow 12th, Andrea Iannone 13th, Jorge Lorenzo 15th, and Maverick Vinales 16e.

While everyone is arrested, Cal Crutchlow climbs to 2nd position, 1/2 second behind the king of the circuit.

Halfway through the session, Andrea Dovizioso, who was in 8th position, appeared broken down on the side of the circuit.

Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales et Johann zarco progress, rising to 4th and 8th positions respectively.

The Yamaha rider then had a good heat at the fast turn 18 before taking pole position in 2'06.023 but Johann zarco did not give up and positioned himself 5th, just in front of his teammate, before the latter responded and took the advantage by 4 hundredths of a second.

Less than a quarter of an hour from the end of the session, Marc Marquez regains the advantage in 2'05.311, a faster time than last year in the same session.

The Honda driver then has a lead of 7 tenths over Maverick Vinales and 8 on Valentino Rossi.

Things are moving on the crest of turn 10…

At the start of the final rush, Andrea Dovizioso recovers 4th place while the 2 French drivers, Johann zarco et fabio quartararo, appear in the 11th and 12th ranks.

4 minutes from the checkered flag, Maverick Vinales puts pressure on Marc Márquez getting closer to 78 thousandths.

A minute later, fabio quartararo improves and positions itself 8th, just like a Jack Miller particularly incisive who took 3rd place.

In extremis, Pol Espargaro imposes his KTM in 6th position.

A new time, Jack Miller take the Ducatis and fabio quartararo the rookies…

MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas standings in Austin FP1:

Classification and photo credit: MotoGP.com