MotoGP Austin FP3 LIVE: Fabio Quartararo dominates the rodeo!

The first teaching of first day of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin has nothing to do with each driver's chances of shining in cowboy country, but simply concerns the track.

This, the subject of numerous criticisms and even threats last year, was notably improved by a resurfacing of turns 2 to 10  and 12 to 15 which, if it cannot eliminate the undulations of the asphalt due to the very nature of the loose terrain on which the circuit is established, simply allows by the elimination of the bumps to the speed drivers to do their job instead of showing their motocross talent!
In general opinion, the situation is therefore much better than last year but is still not perfect. We even wonder if such partial resurfacing will not be necessary every year…

In the meantime, this allows us to concentrate on the sport and note that of the 10 drivers currently prequalified for Q2, Johann zarco, Jack Miller, fabio quartararo, Enea Bastianini, alex rins, Marc Marquez, Maverick Vinales, Joan mir, Francis Bagnaia et George Martin, 5 of them use Ducatis.
" Normal " some will say when thinking of the 1200 meter straight line of the Texan circuit, without even mentioning the wall to climb on the finish line, but that would precisely be forgetting the re-asphalted sequence of turns 2 to 10 which allows, among other things, fabio quartararo et Alex Rins to also appear as more than credible candidates for the battle for the podium.
We cannot in any way overlook the victory of the Suzuki driver in 2019, the only success to have escaped Marc Marquez since 2013 !

Un Marc Marquez  who also does exactly what he says, that is to say who seeks to rebuild the lost confidence in his machine, without being influenced by his fantastic statistics on the COTA (Circuit of the Americas)… “Tomorrow we will start working for the Grand Prix but today was 'my day' and, with the team, we just focused on me to believe in the bike again. It was the best way to forget the past and forget about the fall and the last two weeks. I tried to relax, ride well and we didn't try to touch the bike."

And if there is another driver who raised his confidence level yesterday, it is Johann zarco, provisional poleman at the end of the first day, even if the French driver, in a sort of very understandable superstition after his disappointment in an Argentine Grand Prix from which he had high expectations, does not want to get carried away.

Speaking of Argentina, it is clear that the success ofAlex Espargaro, far from being a one shot, was confirmed in Texas with the arrival at the forefront of Maverick Vinales : the wind is undoubtedly blowing in the right direction at Aprilia!

The last 5 minutes of FP2:

As expected at the start of the season without a real boss, this first day in Texas made our mouths water before this 3-minute FP45 which will finalize 10 of the 12 drivers appearing on the first four rows of the starting grid.

While waiting to discover more, as the 24 drivers prepare for this third 45-minute free practice session, under a still clear sky with temperatures of 18° in the air and 27° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

MotoGP™ Austin, Texas, USA	2021	2022
FP1	2'15.872 Marc Marquez (See here)	2'04.007 Alex Rins (See here)
FP2	2'04.164 Marc Marquez (See here)	2'02.542 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	2'02.923 Jack Miller (See here)	2'02.361 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP4	2'04.028 Jack Miller (See here)
Q1	2'03.410 Luca Marini (See here)
Q2	2'02.781 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Warm up	2'04.074 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Course	Mr. Marquez, Quartararo, Bagnaia (See here)
All time lap record	2'02.135 Marc Márquez 2015

When the red lights go out... we won't be surprised to see Franco Morbidelli to rush first, fabio quartararo the last.

Unlike yesterday, the tire choices are almost unanimous this morning: soft at the front and rear for everyone, except George Martin which uses a rear midrange! Michelin indicates that the choice of the soft front tire is only due to the low track temperature and should gradually be replaced by a hard front.

The first reference is registered in 2'05.333 by Fabio Quartararo at the end of the first flying round.

Marc Márquez takes over but his turn is cancelled, leaving Espargaro Pol lead the proceedings in 2'04.564.

Jack Miller imposes a 2'04.318, quickly replaced by Maverick Vinales in 2'04.114 at the top of the table.

Espargaro Pol then regains his good in 2'03.926 but then has to bow to John Zarco in 2'03.513.

At the end of the first quarter of an hour, Enea Bastianini snatches the lead in 2'03.410 but the top 10 combined has still not changed.

As the drivers begin to stop at their boxes, Enea Bastianini therefore precedes Johann Zarco, Aleix Espargaro, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller, Takaaki Nakagami, Pol Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini, Alex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Brad Binder, Marco Bezzecchi, Remy Gardner, Miguel Oliveira , Raul Fernandez, Andrea Dovizioso, Darryn Binder, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Marc Márquez and Alex Márquez who has so far only made short jumps without registering the slightest time.

Upon resumption, Fabio DiGiannantonio actually comes out with a hard front tire, but seems to be the only one to try this option.

Meanwhile, Takaaki Nakagami made the first change in the combined ranking, taking provisional pole position in 2'03.286.

In the wake, Maverick Vinales goes back to second position, immediately replaced in this place by Alex Espargaro, even if the Aprilia rider unfortunately still does not appear in the top 10 combined.

Joan mir then climbed to the top of the table, in 2'03.267 before losing to the championship leader in 2'03.082: this time Alex Espargaro is provisionally prequalified for Q2, in eighth position!

Joan mir replied in 2'02.874 while George Martin minor fall in turn #16.

Enea Bastianini, also equipped with a hard tire at the front, set the best time of the session, the second time overall, in 2'02.741 then 2'02.420.

Luca marini distinguished himself by placing his Ducati in third position before conceding the latter to Marc Márquez.

fabio quartararo reassures his fans by achieving the second time of the session with eight minutes remaining in the session. This is the moment when Joan mir minor fall at turn #11.

Five minutes before the flag drops, we see around ten drivers starting from the pit lane, a bit like what happens in Moto3. fabio quartararo leads the troop and slows down after a while, but no one wants to go in front... Will we see penalties?

Anyway, Marc Márquez made the right operation and achieved the second time, just ahead Fabio Quartararo.

Johann zarco fall in the last lap, without gravity, while fabio quartararo achieved the best time of 2'02.361!

Fabio Quartararo, Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller, Marc Márquez, Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini are therefore prequalified for a direct passage to Q2, unlike the two Aprilias and the former winner alex rins.

See you at 20:30 p.m. for FP4!

MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas FP3 results at Circuit of the Americas in Austin:

Combined FP1/FP2/FP3 results from the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com