Austin, MotoGP, FP4: The King is back!

The first day of the Grand Prix of the Americas at the Austin circuit in Texas brought a few surprises.

The first was provided by Marc Márquez, whose track record so far has been nothing short of perfect than extraordinary in the United States, but who has encountered much more solid opposition than expected from the Yamaha.

At the end of the first day of testing, it was even Maverick Vinales who is at the top of the provisional ranking in front of the Honda pilot, while Valentino Rossi completes the first provisional line. In theory, there is nothing to really worry about number 93 given the last races of Maverick Vinales, but still the need to understand why the RC213V seems less dominant than expected.

Tangible sign of this little worry, Marc Marquez did “like everyone else” during FP2, switching to a soft tire in the final minutes.

The other surprise was the poor performance of the official Ducatis from which we expected much better on the circuit which has the longest straight of the season. No real tangible explanation from the 2 pilots, even if Andrea Dovizioso suggests a poor choice of front tire and Danilo Petrucci adjustments to be perfected.

Due to lightning safety measures the Texans postponed FP3 this morning, are pre-qualified for Q2 Maverick Viñales, Marc Márquez, Valentino Rossi, Jack Miller, Cal Crutchlow, Álex Rins, Pol Espargaró, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia.

The latter declared that he had found in Moto2 “a trick” to absorb the bumps of the Austin track, a trick that he used successfully in MotoGP…

After'cancellation of FP3, what is the point of racing on the wet track that awaits MotoGP riders for FP4, on a bumpy track that is already slippery in the dry? Certainly to prepare for Q1 and Q2 which will perhaps take place under the same conditions even if the weather radar no longer waits for bad weather...
As a reminder, the 4 rookies that are Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, Joan Mir et Miguel Oliveira have never ridden on a wet track in MotoGP!

Here are the references available for this FP4 maintained at 30 minutes, without rain but on a drying track with still a few gullies here and there and temperatures of 18° in the air and 25° on the ground:

MotoGP ™	2018	2019
FP1	2'05.530 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'05.311 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP2	2'04.599 Andrea Iannone (See here)	2'03.857 Maverick Viñales (See here)
FP3	2'04.608 Marc Márquez (See here)	Canceled due to storms (See here)
FP4	2'04.686 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'05.478 Marc Márquez
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	Márquez, Vinales, Iannone (See here)
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Márquez 2015

As soon as the red lights go out, Jorge Lorenzo sets off in the lead to take advantage of a free track.
Despite the sun coming back, everyone is on rain tires, with different choices, except Hafiz Syahrin which is indicated with a slick at the front.

Jorge Lorenzo returns to his box after a round.

Without much surprise, it is the valiant Jack Miller who leads the troops in 2'19.745 at the end of the first flying lap.

In the next passage, Marc Márquez drops the provisional reference to 2'17.172.

A little before mid-session, the drivers return to the box while the ranking shows Marc Márquez a little second ahead Valentino Rossi, Maverick Viñales, Andrea Dovizioso, Miguel Oliveira, Cal Crutchlow, Danilo Petrucci, Karel Abraham, Pol Espargaró, Joan Mir and Johann Zarco.

Valentino Rossi didn't stop and took the lead in 2'16.168.

Doctor then precedes Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez and an astonishing Miguel Oliveira before stopping at his box.

Many drivers then stay in their garage waiting for the track to dry out further, and we wonder who will change to the slicks first…

The track is improving by the minute, as shown Jorge Lorenzo who takes 4th position in front Franco Morbidelli 12 minutes from the checkered flag.

In the next round, the times continue to improve and it is now Alex Rins in 2'14.660 preceding Jack Miller et Valentino Rossi.

Just after, Marc Márquez is the first to release in slicks with a soft/soft combination.

This is the signal, and Andrea Dovizioso follows immediately, just like Andrea Iannone et fabio quartararo who took the measure of the wet track in 18th position.

In less than 2 minutes, all the drivers on the track opted for slicks, generally Soft/Soft, except for Danilo Petrucci which uses a midrange at the back.

In the next passage, Marc Márquez lights all sectors red and explodes the provisional reference ofAlex Rins in 2'08.971. There are then 6 minutes left before the flag drops, which the driver takes advantage of to clock a 2'06.956.

Competition, led by Andrea Dovizioso and Franco Morbidelli, is then still 4 seconds, thus showing the speed of setting the rhythm of Marc Márquez...

Even if Cal Crutchlow gradually reduced the gap to less than a second, the Cervera driver continued his effort and recorded a 2'05.478 without sparing his temperament.

In extremis, Valentino Rossi is positioned 3rd, in front Franco Morbidelli. while Maverick Vinales rodeo.

MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas standings in Austin FP4:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com