Ten minutes from the end of qualifying practice for the Grand Prix of the Americas, Jorge Martin almost bent the question: the best time would undoubtedly be for him. In 2’01”397, the Spaniard from Pramac lowered the Austin track record by almost half a second on Friday. No one was able to pick him up and this is a strong signal sent to the competition for the rest of the weekend.
Martin leads the troop of drivers who will compete directly in Q2 on Saturday. He was ahead of Maverick Vinales (Aprilia, +0”076), already fast in free practice and who did not finish that far, and Marc Marquez (Gresini, +0”409). Francesco Bagnaia, who accelerated in his last run, also secured his place (Ducati, 4th), as did Pedro Acosta (GasGas, 5th) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 6th). Note the nice surprise of Franco Morbidelli, 7th aboard his Ducati Pramac.
The French will have to go through the repechage on Saturday. In accordance with the poor results of the Japanese motorcycles, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) could not do better than 17th (+1”442), while Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) took 19th place (+1”617).
