Marquez leads drying Friday Practice, Bagnaia scrapes through to Q2

Starting wet, finishing dry and with a flurry, Friday afternoon’s MotoGP™ Practice at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas was a real treat. With rain easing off after a lunch time shower, we got the fastest times of the weekend thus far, resulting in Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) setting a 2.09:929 to set the only time in the 2.02 bracket of the day, holding off Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team pairing Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli behind.

WET START: getting a feel for track conditions

Although the opening 20 minutes were completed on wet tyres as a drying line had yet to fully form, the slicks were soon donned and the times soon tumbling. Jack Miller (Prima Pramac MotoGP Team) never shies away from being one of the first to put on slick tyres and he was the first again, followed by the two factory Ducatis and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). All four demoted Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) from top spot, as the 2020 World Champion enjoyed competitivity in the opening moments of the hour-long session.

However, with the rain abating and track conditions improving with each passing second, it was always going to be who left it latest in terms of who stood the best chance of being inside the top ten and therefore going directly into Q2. Marc Marquez was the first to blink, slicing nearly a second from the top time and into the 2’04s, whilst at the other end of the top ten, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) was in P10 and had a target on his back from the likes of teammate Ai Ogura, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Morbidelli.

LATE DRAMA: yellow flags and huge improvements

A late crash for Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) brought out the yellow flags but the Frenchman was all OK. The last 90 seconds were wild with an abundance of late laps and although nobody could get near the #93 – a 0.736s gap to the opposition – it was Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and teammate Morbidelli that joined him in the top three, ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and his teammate Aldeguer, who is through into Q2 for the first time.

Jack Miller’s strong session resulted in him being top Yamaha, ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), who makes Q2 for the first time in KTM. Joan Mir held on to go through directly to Q2, just ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). ‘Pecco’ scraped through with a tenth to spare, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) the first rider forced into Q1.

Q1 JUNGLE: a heavyweight scrap to move into Q2

The 2021 World Champion is in good company in Q1 though with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Ai Ogura all having to tough it out – there’re only two spots available so there will be some very big names with some very big disappointments come Q1 on Saturday morning from COTA.