AUSTIN (UNITED STATES) (ITALPRESS) – Whether the track is dry, wet or in mixed conditions makes no difference to Marc Marquez, absolute ruler of Friday’s Grand Prix of the Americas as well. Not even, in fact, on the Austin circuit the Spaniard did not get off the top of the leaderboard, finishing first in both FP1 and Practice. Marc’s performance was impressive, especially in the second session, where, on a track with unusual conditions, he set the best time of 2’02″929, with a 0″736 thousandths gap to the first of the pursuers, Fabio Di Giannantonio. Closing the podium of this first American day is Franco Morbidelli (+0″837), in third place: a one-two, then, for the Ducati of Team Vr46.
The Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s monopoly extends throughout the top five: Alex Marquez (+0″882) is fourth, ahead of teammate Fermin Aldeguer (+0″973), fifth. Between sixth and ninth are, in order, Jack Miller, Pedro Acosta, Maverick Vinales and Joan Mir. Noisy the exclusions from Q2 of Fabio Quartararo and Marco Bezzecchi, in eleventh and thirteenth place respectively. Today’s top ten is closed by Francesco Bagnaia (+1″530), qualified for Q2 by the skin of his teeth. For the rider from Chivasso there is still a lot of work to do to find the perfect feeling with his Ducati. It is hard to explain what was missing today for Pecco, seemingly on the upswing at least until the final ten minutes of Practice, where he missed a few tenths.
Opposite mood, however, on the other end of the box with Marquez, whose only blunder of the day was a fall in FP1, due to overconfidence: “This morning I overdid it and at turn two I suffered a water planning. However, I started this grand prix well. Tomorrow I will have to find the same feeling as today.” After rain fell most of the morning, the track gradually dried in the afternoon, albeit not completely. However, many riders took advantage of this to mount slick tires and thus improve their chronological records.
As announced yesterday, Jorge Martin surprised all fans by showing up in the United States to show closeness to his team and plan with it his return to the track. At the microphones of Sky Sports, the reigning world champion gave a quick overview of his health situation: “I see the light at the end of the tunnel: it’s just a little while before my return to the saddle. I broke ten bones and it was the worst fall of my career.” It seems, therefore, that the chances of seeing Martin back on the bike in two weeks’ time in Qatar are growing. Finally, as for tomorrow’s schedule, qualifying for the premier class is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.: Sprint, however, in the evening at 9 p.m.
– IPA Agency photo –
(ITALPRESS).
