The rain poured down in Austin, Texas as the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas’ first day of track action got underway. The Circuit of the Americas usually has blissful sunshine but a wet Friday caught out Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), who suffered his first crash of the season. At the head of the field, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) continued his Argentina podium form to lead the opening session at COTA.
Conditions improved towards the end of the 45-minute session but it was the really wet conditions that caught Marquez out at Turn 2 after just six laps of the weekend. Managing to get up and return the bike to the pits – via the use of a flatbed truck. He got back out with 15 minutes to go before taking P4. Strong right the way through the session, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was on top ahead of fellow Independent rider Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP). Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) was strong again in P4 ahead of last year’s COTA revelation Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Sporadically topping the timesheets through the session, double MotoGP Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was sixth ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). In one of his best sessions in orange, 2024’s COTA master Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was ninth ahead of super-sub Augusto Fernandez (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), deputising for the injured Miguel Oliveira.
When it rains, it pours 💔 Bez' horrific morning continues with a highside at T5, but he's back on his feet! #AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/8WfAtiGDFA
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 28, 2025
In what was a session to forget, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) suffered numerous technical gremlins throughout the session with both bikes. Three technical issues and a crash across both bikes, when it rains, it pours – no weather pun intended – and the discontent was clear for everyone in the Aprilia box; at the flag, ‘Bez’ was 20th. The problems didn't stop there, with a nightmare Practice Start session ending a tricky session. The best Aprilia was Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) for the team’s home GP in 17th; teammate Ai Ogura struggled in his first wet session in the class in P22.
FP1 results bagged, it's now time to look ahead to the afternoon: live coverage resumes from 13:10 Local Time (UTC - 6).