Prima Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jorge Martin, the lap record holder at the Circuit of The Americas, nearly reset his own mark in the second, overcast and misty practice session on Friday at the 3.4-mile Austin circuit.
Martin ran a 2:02.178 lap at the end of the session, just shy of the all-time fastest lap of 2:02.038 he set last year. World Champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia was second-fastest on his Lenovo factory Ducati GP23, and Alex Rins, a former winner at the circuit, was third on the LCR Honda RC213V, only 0.217 second off of Martin’s time.
Mooney VR46 Racing Ducati’s Luca Marini topped the first session and finished fourth overall, while his teammate Marco Bezzecchi, winner last time out in Argentina, was 11th and will have to go through Q1. Alex Marquez on the Gresini Racing Ducati GP22 was fifth, ahead of Maverick Vinales on the factory Aprilia and Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha YZR-M1. Both factory KTM RC16s made it into the final qualifying session, with Argentina sprint winner Brad Binder eighth and Jack Miller 10th. Vinales’ teammate, Aleix Espargaro, was ninth.
Pedro Acosta topped the Moto2 timesheets, while Ayumu Sasaki was quickest in Moto3.
