The GP of the Americas, which got underway today in Austin in ideal weather conditions (air 27°C, ground 38°C), ended with Marc Marquez powering his RC213V to the top of the timesheet in both free practice sessions. After being the only rider to dip below the 2’05 barrier in the morning, Marc set the pace in FP2 as well, posting the fastest time of 2’04.034 despite a small crash in the last corner midway into the session.

In the morning, Dani Pedrosa tried a setup that didn’t work as he expected, and after more modifications in the afternoon, he improved his pace slightly, not yet to the point that he and his crew are aiming for but still less than three tenths of a second from the provisional front row.

FP3 will commence Saturday at 9:55 a.m. local time

Marc Marquez - 1st 2'04.034

“Overall, I'm happy with how the day went. Acceleration was something of an unknown, but it seems initially that it is not as much of a factor here as at other circuits, because most of the corner exits here are in first gear, and we don’t lose so much. This morning we briefly tested some new winglets that effectively reduce the wheelying a little bit, but we need to test them further to better understand the bike’s behaviour with them. In the afternoon I had a small crash in which I was unhurt. I saw that I was going very well on a lap and, on the last corner, I left my braking until a little later than before. I found out where the limit is. I'm happy with how the day went but we can still continue to improve."

Dani Pedrosa - 8th 2'05.194

“Today has been quite difficult because we’re still looking for the best setting for this track. After the last race, we decided to try something new this morning, but it didn’t provide the feeling I was hoping for, so we changed it again in the afternoon. We improved our pace but it’s still not what I am looking for. This track requires good acceleration as well as braking and handling, so we’ll continue working to improve our feeling when riding, in order to get more comfortable and, as a result, improve our times.”

1   - MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'04.034
2   - IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.706
3   - VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.861
4   - REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 0.865
5   - LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.867
6   - ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.940
7   - BAZ Loris 76 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1.156
8   - PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1.160
9   - DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1.161
10 - CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 1.359
11 - BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1.454
12 - PIRRO Michele 51 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1.563
13 - ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1.582
14 - ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1.628
15 - HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.727
16 - LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.857
17 - BRADL Stefan 6 GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.888
18 - BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 2.123
19 - SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2.445
20 - MILLER Jack 43 AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2.743
21 - RABAT Tito 53 SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 3.010