MotoGP Austin FP1 LIVE: Sheriff Marc Marquez shoots first!

Article updated continuously until the end of the session.

Arriving in Austin, Texas for the Grand Prix of the Americas, championship leader fabio quartararo is 48 points ahead of Francis Bagnaia, 67 on Joan mir, 93 on Johann zarco and 94 on Jack Miller, the only riders who can still mathematically claim the title of 2021 MotoGP world champion, four races from the end of the season.

On paper, the Frenchman's situation seems all the more comfortable as the latter is the only driver on the field to have scored points in each race, and the only one to have always progressed directly to Qualification 2, thus perfectly combining this year the consistency in performance.

In the medium term, all the lights are green for The Devil, at the moment when it presents itself on a Circuit of the Americas marked with a hot iron by a Marc Marquez who won 6 of the 7 past editions, leaving only a crumb behind due to a fall. alex rins in 2019, the last year that COTA hosted the Grands Prix.

To face Texas, fabio quartararo can also remember that he obtained his first GP podium there, in 2015, finishing 2nd in Moto3.
13th, 12th and 15th in the following years, his results were less brilliant in Austin, before arriving in 2019, where a 7th place finalized the Niçois' only race in MotoGP on the 5,5 kilometers of the American track.

Francis Bagnaia, his main opponent in the championship, already knows the taste of victory in Texas having won his second Moto2 race there in Austin in 2018.
The following year, this time in MotoGP, he finished 9th, two places behind a certain… fabio quartararo.

But obviously, several elements will take great pleasure in trying to disrupt this previously established order, starting with a Marc Marquez truly acting like a sheriff in Texas, October weather forecast to be as capricious as April weather, and an asphalt completely redone in 2018 but partially patched since the last Grand Prix in 2019 which led Michelin to provide 4 types of rear tires including an additional extra-hard...

If the latest forecasts ultimately anticipate a dry Sunday race, it is indeed a soggy track which welcomes the MotoGP riders this morning under a gray sky, with temperatures of 21° in the air and 24° on the asphalt.

By the time the 21 pilots (Maverick Vinales being absent due to the death of his cousin) are preparing for this first 45-minute session, let's take advantage of these few minutes of live broadcast thanks to the official website MotoGP.com to discover the American football-style helmet of the latest winner in the USA:

References available:

MotoGP ™	2019	2021
FP1	2'05.311 Marc Márquez (See here)	2'15.872 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP2	2'03.857 Maverick Viñales (See here)
FP3	Canceled due to storms (See here)
FP4	2'05.478 Marc Márquez (See here)
Q1	2'05.855 Jorge Lorenzo (See here)
Q2	2'03.787 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm up	2'04.573 Marc Marquez (See here)
Course	Rins, Rossi, Miller (See here)
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Márquez 2015

When the red lights go out... Alex Marquez rushes first in front Franco Morbidelli et Johann zarco while Marc Marquez et fabio quartararo wait a few more seconds.

In terms of tires, everyone is on soft rain tires except Jack Miller who uses mediums.

The drivers are riding on eggshells and the first reference is registered by… Marc Márquez in 2'20.323 at the end of the first flying lap. On the next pass, the Honda driver is already in 2'17.885, two seconds faster than his teammate who temporarily occupies second place.

After 10 minutes, Johann zarco reduces the gap to 1,3 seconds behind the master of the place, but it is Pol Espargaro who is 2/10 behind his teammate at the end of the first quarter of an hour.

So, Marc Márquez pulls back and scores 2'16.801, thus giving himself a lead of 7/10 over his teammate.

Espargaro Pol does not understand it that way and comes back to 5/10 while Jack Miller is inserted between the two Hondas.

At this point in the session, we note the good performance of Luca marini 5th, Miguel Oliveira 6th and Johann zarco 7e.

25 minutes from the checkered flag, Jack Miller takes the lead in 2'16.639 then 2'16.612.

At the end of the first run, the Australian precedes Marc Márquez, Miguel Oliveira, Pol Espargaro, Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Luca Marini, Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro, Alex Rins, Jorge Martin, Iker Lecuona, Takaaki Nakagami, Joan Mir, Brad Binder, Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso, Franco Morbidelli, Énéa Bastianini, Alex Márquez and Valentino Rossi.

Upon resumption, alex rins also tests medium tires while Danilo Petrucci goes back to 10th then 8th position.

The sun makes a timid appearance but 10 minutes before the flag drops, no one seems to want to try the slick bet...

Iker Lecuona temporarily entered the top 10 but was quickly dislodged by alex rins, when Marc Márquez produced his effort on medium tires and regained command in 2'15.872.

Three minutes from the end of the session, John Zarco rises to fourth position, while conversely the Yamaha, 15th, 16th, 20th and 21st, seem to be struggling...

In the last seconds, the duel between Marc Marquez et Jack Miller continues by hundredths of a second, but the Honda driver maintains his hold on the rankings until the end.

In extremis, Johann zarco takes third position while Takaaki Nakagami minor fall in turn #15.

See you at 21:10 p.m. for FP2!

MotoGP Americas Grand Prix FP1 results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com