During the two practice sessions this Friday, the start of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Marc Márquez offered us a fireworks display of best times and spectacular passages. He even fell to distract us. And yet, the final bouquet was not his doing, but that ofAndrea Iannone who stole the show in the final seconds. No problem though, because it's not Joe the Maniac he fears for the future. But rather Viñales…
Marc Márquez worked well this Friday in Austin. And it’s not a fall at turn 11 that will upset him: “ There are a lot of bumps in this area. I braked earlier than usual and found myself further inside the corner. I took a bump and went to the ground. You have to be very precise and careful here this year. The track is made of waves which cause you to lose the front by blocking it. But it's better that it happens today than on Sunday in the race ».
Márquez thus makes a new observation on the state of the Austin track. He thus agrees with the opinion of Petrucci and confirms his feeling displayed after the FP1 : the work carried out to improve the Texan route has actually degraded it.
But we will have to make do with: “ I did my best time with a medium front and a hard rear. When I fell, I had a tender in the front. It was damaged so we used a medium to continue. We still need to work on the settings, even if the sensations are good, it's not perfect. We are told that rain is coming. And then if my pace is good, I notice that Viñales's is barely slower ».
He finishes : " you will have to be wary of these bumps. For my tires, the hard rear is an option for all 20 laps of the race. I did ten or twelve laps with them and their wear was good and the times were decent. But I want to try the medium and soft ».
The two official Honda riders are in the top 10 since despite his condition and his wrist pain, Pedrosa managed to enter the top 10. While the championship leader on the other RC213V is in the top 5.
Austin MotoGP J.1: Chronos
| 1 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 2'04.599 | ||
| 2 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 2'04.655 | 0.056 | 0.056 |
| 3 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 2'04.863 | 0.264 | 0.208 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 2'04.958 | 0.359 | 0.095 |
| 5 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 2'05.088 | 0.489 | 0.130 |
| 6 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 2'05.452 | 0.853 | 0.364 |
| 7 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 2'05.487 | 0.888 | 0.035 |
| 8 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 2'05.647 | 1.048 | 0.160 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 2'05.739 | 1.140 | 0.092 |
| 10 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 2'05.761 | 1.162 | 0.022 |
| 11 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 2'05.889 | 1.290 | 0.128 |
| 12 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 2'05.910 | 1.311 | 0.021 |
| 13 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 2'05.933 | 1.334 | 0.023 |
| 14 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 2'06.016 | 1.417 | 0.083 |
| 15 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 2'06.078 | 1.479 | 0.062 |
| 16 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 2'06.219 | 1.620 | 0.141 |
| 17 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 2'06.397 | 1.798 | 0.178 |
| 18 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 2'06.555 | 1.956 | 0.158 |
| 19 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 2'06.625 | 2.026 | 0.070 |
| 20 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 2'06.640 | 2.041 | 0.015 |
| 21 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 2'06.683 | 2.084 | 0.043 |
| 22 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 2'07.033 | 2.434 | 0.350 |
| 23 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 2'07.136 | 2.537 | 0.103 |
| 24 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 2'08.021 | 3.422 | 0.885 |
