Maverick Vinales leads the first MotoGP practice session in Austin ahead of world championship leader Jorge Martin and rookie Pedro Acosta – Marc Marquez ends up in eighth place
Portimao had left him disappointed two weeks ago after a late race retirement. On Friday, Maverick Vinales returned with a best time in the first MotoGP free practice session at the Circuit of The Americas
The Aprilia rider topped the session in 2:03.294 minutes, leaving Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati) just 0.149 seconds behind. Third place went to MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas), who was a good three tenths behind. All three riders had fitted fresh Michelin tires for the final run.
The field completed up to 17 laps on the second-longest track on the race calendar in the 45-minute session, which is no longer relevant for pre-qualifying in Q1 and Q2. The conditions were dry and sunny.
Apart from a number of braking incidents, there was only one incident. Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) slid off the front wheel in turn 12, but was able to continue.
Behind the top three, Enea Bastianini (Ducati) finished the session in fourth place, followed by Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati), who completed the top five and was half a second off the fastest time. Brad Binder (KTM) was sixth. Franco Morbidelli (Pramac-Ducati) lined up in seventh place.
Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) refrained from a late attack with fresh tires and was consequently relegated to eighth place. He had led the session shortly after half-time. In the end, he was seven tenths off the pace.
Jack Miller (KTM) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) rounded off the top 10 in the first free practice session. World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) followed in eleventh place
The former King of COTA is looking to take back his crown this weekend! @marcmarquez93 means business, he goes P1 AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/hAviUympjw
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) April 12, 2024
The best Yamaha rider was Alex Rins in 13th place – one second behind. His team-mate Fabio Quartararo was just six thousandths behind him. The two Honda factory riders Luca Marini and Joan Mir finished in 15th and 16th place respectively, while Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) did not make it past 19th place