Marc Márquez doesn’t seem to be suffering too much from the fall he had this morning. At the end of the hour of MotoGP practice on Friday at the Grand Prix of the Americas, the Spaniard dominated in Austin and claimed the fastest time of the session. With a time of 2:00.927 on the Texan circuit, he is dangerously close to the track record set by Maverick Viñales two years ago.
At Aprilia, the Trackhouse Racing team riders showed much better form than the factory team riders at the start of the practice sessions. While Raúl Fernández dropped in the rankings towards the end of the session, Ai Ogura held on strong, securing second place in the practice, just a few hundredths off the pace.
The weekends keep looking the same for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who seems to be more comfortable on the GP26 this year than he was on the GP25 last year. The Italian, who returned to the podium last week in Brazil, achieved the third fastest time in practice, a good sign for the rest of the weekend.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi completed a tight top 4. Just two hundredths of a second separate him from Marc Márquez, promising an interesting duel between Ducati and Aprilia at the US Grand Prix. Álex Márquez rounded out the top 5 after a fall at turn 1 at the start of the session.
The best Honda in the practice, Luca Marini secured a spot in Q2 for the first time this season. The Italian took the 9th fastest time, behind Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia. Enea Bastianini also made it to his first Q2 of the year with Tech3, signing an impressive 10th fastest time under the watchful eye of Günther Steiner.
As for the French riders, Johann Zarco is only 14th, and Fabio Quartararo, despite being the best Yamaha, is in 15th place. Both riders will have to go through Q1 for the first time since the San Marino Grand Prix in 2025.
MotoGP – Grand Prix of the United States
Practice Results:
[Context: The content discusses the results of the practice sessions for MotoGP at the Grand Prix of the Americas, highlighting the performances of different riders from various teams.]
[Fact Check: The article mentions specific riders, their positions, and their performances in the practice sessions leading up to the Grand Prix.]
