He stood by and watched (so to speak) in the morning session, but in the decisive round on Friday in Austin Jorge Martin made his move. On a track that improved significantly in the US afternoon, everyone improved their times, but the Pramac team rider took first place by force in the test session which defined access to tomorrow's Q2, shattering the team's record. track.
The Spaniard thus sets the new COTA reference in 2'01″397, taking the record from Pecco Bagnaia, who held the previous record (2'01″892). After the second time in FP1, the championship leader's uncatchable time led him to enter Saturday qualifying as the favourite.
However, Martin does not appear so impregnable, because in the second round on Friday, Maverick Vinales showed himself to be extremely competitive and, after having dominated the morning session, was only 76 thousandths off the top. The rider from Roses brings the Aprilia to second position and confirms the excellent form already shown in the Portimao Sprint.
Third time for the “King of COTA”: Marc Marquez takes the top 3 right at the end of the session, significantly improving his morning time. In fact, the Gresini standard bearer made a leap forward which allowed him to be among the leaders, although he was four tenths behind the leader of the day, an already more significant delay compared to his brand mate.
Marquez precedes Pecco Bagnaia, on a razor's edge until the final minutes. The reigning world champion appears more in the shadows, as usual on Fridays, but makes an impact by taking direct Q2 with the fourth fastest time. The Ducati standard-bearer and the Spaniard from Gresini are separated by just 2 thousandths, with both remaining a full four tenths behind the leader. Demonstrating how much the times have dropped, Bagnaia also beat his previous record, clocking a 2'01”808.
Once again, Pedro Acosta proves himself to be on par with the more experienced, finishing Friday in fifth position. The rookie he doesn't seem too scared by the difficulties of COTA and gains direct access to Q2 on a particularly difficult day for the KTMs, which all remain outside the top 10 with the exception of #31. The young driver from Mazarron also took the lead in the standings in the initial stages, remaining almost six tenths behind Martin at the end of the session.
In sixth position we find the other official Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, preceding a splendid Franco Morbidelli. The Italian seems to be at ease at COTA astride the Ducati and, after having come close to the top, he takes direct Q2 with a seventh time which smells like the beginning of a rebirth. The Roman from Tavullia also remains ahead of a GP24 from the official team: Enea Bastianini, winner of the 2022 edition, is eighth with the factory Ducati after having threatened first position in the initial stages of the session.
Great performance by the VR46 duo, with both drivers gaining direct access to Q2. Fabio Di Giannantonio is ninth and precedes teammate Marco Bezzecchi, who with tenth position takes a step forward compared to Portimao, where he was trapped in Q1. Thus, Ducati once again dominated Friday's Grand Prix of the Americas, placing seven Desmosedicis in the top 10, between GP23 and GP24.
The only “Red” outside the top ten positions is that of Alex Marquez, who starts the weekend in Austin with a few more difficulties than his brand mates and is only 13th. The Spaniard remains behind the Trackhouse duo. Only 108 thousandths separate Miguel Oliveira from Q2: on the home track of the Trackhouse team, the Portuguese does not go beyond 11th position and precedes his teammate Raul Fernandez, 12th.
Then follows the large group of KTMs: if Acosta makes the difference, the other RC16s seem to struggle more and have to go through Q1, with Brad Binder 14th ahead of Augusto Fernandez and Jack Miller, 15th and 16th respectively. Uphill on Friday also for Yamaha, with Fabio Quartararo fresh from renewal but only 17th and a good one and a half seconds behind Martin. Immediately behind we find his teammate Alex Rins.
Late night for the RC213V who, as usual, close the group. Johann Zarco captains the Honda group, riding the LCR Castrol. Joan Mir follows, the protagonist of a harmless fall which however relegates him to twentieth position. Luca Marini is 21st while Taakaki Nakagami closes the group.
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