The third free practice session was disrupted during its final minutes by precipitation which hampered the direct qualification of the drivers who were then beyond tenth position. Some tried their luck despite everything, but the precarious grip forced them to go through Q1.
| Austin MotoGP™ | 2017 | 2018 |
| FP1 | 2'04.923 Maverick Vinales | 2'05.530 Marc Marquez (See here) |
| FP2 | 2'04.061 Marc Marquez | 2'04.599 Andrea Iannone (See here) |
| FP3 | 2'03.979 Maverick Vinales | 2'04.608 Marc Marquez |
| FP4 | 2'04.201 Marc Marquez | 2'04.686 Marc Marquez |
| Qualification 1 | 2'04.438 Jack Miller | |
| Qualification 2 | 2'02.741 Marc Marquez | |
| Warm Up | 2'04.070 Marc Marquez | |
| Course | Marquez, Rossi, Pedrosa | |
| All time lap record | 2'02.135 Marc Marquez 2015 |
During the first run, the reference time went to Danilo Petrucci in 2'05.910, then Hafizh Syahrin improved to 2'05.889. Tito Rabat followed in 2'06.221.
Pol Espargaro moved into second position in 2'05.901, 0.012 behind Syahrin. Petrucci retained third position ahead of Bradley Smith and Alex Espargaro. The first 8 were grouped into three tenths.
Two spots up for grabs in Q2 – who's going to take them? #AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/lNsrdP5l8N
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 21, 2018
At the start of the second run, Syahrin magnificently maintained his advantage 4 minutes from the checkered flag. Karel Abraham fell without gravity.
Back to the box – it’s time to attack ⏱#AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/q19LvzUA9e
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 21, 2018
Danilo Petrucci moved up to third position, but 0.021 behind the leader. Then on his next lap, Petrucci set an excellent lap in 2'05.245. Pol Espargaro took command in 2'05.169, 0.076 ahead of Petrux.
Pol Espargaro and Danilo Petrucci qualified, ahead of Nakagami, two tenths behind Pol Espargaro.
Q1 results:
#MotoGP Q1 🏁@polespargaro and @Petrux9 claim the two spots in Q2 ✊#AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/JrVIZS2qUW
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 21, 2018
Photos © motogp.com
