Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas

April 8, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 2:04.034, crash

2. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 2:04.740

3. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 2:04.895

4. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 2:04.899

5. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:04.901

6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 2:04.974

7. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 2:05.190

8. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 2:05.194

9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:05.195

10. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 2:05.393

11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 2:05.488

12. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:05.597

13. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:05.616

14. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 2:05.662

15. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 2:05.761

16. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 2:05.891, crash

17. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 2:05.922

18. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 2:06.157

19. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 2:06.479

20. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 2:06.777

21. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 2:07.044

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Espargaro gets straight to work in Texas

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Pol Espargaro embarked on his round three campaign with a run to 13th on the opening day of action in Texas. The Spanish star leapt into gear when FP1 commenced and began setting up his Yamaha YZR-M1 for Sunday’s race. He closed the session in 12th and when the afternoon practice started, he carried on his solid efforts before posting a personal best on his final lap. This time left him just over six tenths from the Factory Yamaha riders and leaves him optimistic of sealing a top grid position tomorrow.

On the opposite side of the pit box, Bradley Smith pushed throughout the day at the Circuit of The Americas as he adjusted the setup of his MotoGP bike to suit the meandering track. After making steps forward in the morning, he got straight back to work in FP2 and progressed by setting a lap time that was 1.019 quicker than his best from the opening session. Now, the Briton is fully focused on bouncing back tomorrow with his sights firmly set on seizing a strong qualifying result.

Pol Espargaro

Position : 13th Time : 2’05.616 Laps : 31

Pol EspargaroPol Espargaro – 2016″Altogether, the day has been pretty positive even if the gap to the top guys is quite considerable. Yet, fortunately, there is still plenty of time for us to fine tune our setting and I really feel that we started the weekend in the right way. This morning we received our new tyres, which I think will be the ones that we are going to use in the race. In that case, I’m pleased as today we proved once again that we are strong on worn tyres so I’m confident that we will be competitive in the final stages of the GP. Nevertheless, we still need to increase the grip level with the new tyres plus, I believe that we can improve the braking stability of my Yamaha M1 and I feel that we have a margin of progress to make in this area. Yet, I’m happy with what we have done so far on day 1 and I’m already looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow morning where I definitely want to score a top 10 finish in order to qualify directly for QP2.”

Bradley Smith

Position : 19th Time : 2’06.479 Laps : 30

“Even though today didn’t go as well as we expected, I am confident about what we should be able to do tomorrow. We knew that we had to undertake a serious change with the way that we set up our motorcycle. Right now, we are trying our best to understand exactly what we need and how to work the Michelin tyres in the correct way. Therefore, when you make these type of adjustments, it always costs time to undertake them and get the feeling that we require. So although the result isn’t fantastic, I am satisfied with the improvements that we made. Friday is the day to practice and test new ideas, which is what I believe I did today. Of course, tomorrow we want to try to advance as much as possible, but right now, even if I look on the other side of the Tech3 garage, we seem to be struggling a bit more than usual here. Now we will analyse the data and this evening we will make a good plan for tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Marquez in dominant form in Austin, Pedrosa eighth

The GP of the Americas, which got underway today in Austin in ideal weather conditions (air 27°C, ground 38°C), ended with Marc Marquez powering his RC213V to the top of the timesheet in both free practice sessions. After being the only rider to dip below the 2’05 barrier in the morning, Marc set the pace in FP2 as well, posting the fastest time of 2’04.034 despite a small crash in the last corner midway into the session.

In the morning, Dani Pedrosa tried a setup that didn’t work as he expected, and after more modifications in the afternoon, he improved his pace slightly, not yet to the point that he and his crew are aiming for but still less than three tenths of a second from the provisional front row.

FP3 will commence tomorrow at 9:55 a.m. local time

Marc Marquez

1ST 2’04.034

“Overall, I’m happy with how the day went. Acceleration was something of an unknown, but it seems initially that it is not as much of a factor here as at other circuits, because most of the corner exits here are in first gear, and we don’t lose so much. This morning we briefly tested some new winglets that effectively reduce the wheelying a little bit, but we need to test them further to better understand the bike’s behaviour with them. In the afternoon I had a small crash in which I was unhurt. I saw that I was going very well on a lap and, on the last corner, I left my braking until a little later than before. I found out where the limit is. I’m happy with how the day went but we can still continue to improve.”

Dani Pedrosa

8TH 2’05.194

“Today has been quite difficult because we’re still looking for the best setting for this track. After the last race, we decided to try something new this morning, but it didn’t provide the feeling I was hoping for, so we changed it again in the afternoon. We improved our pace but it’s still not what I am looking for. This track requires good acceleration as well as braking and handling, so we’ll continue working to improve our feeling when riding, in order to get more comfortable and, as a result, improve our times.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

Aspar Team riders begin Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin

Yonny Hernandez and Eugene Laverty end first day with times evenly matched

The Circuit of the Americas opened its doors for its fourth appearance on the MotoGP calendar this Friday, and the man who has dominated there since its inauguration was in top form again; Marc Marquez was the fastest rider of the day, more than seven tenths ahead of any of his rivals. The differences between other riders was much tighter, and only three tenths of a second separated places 2-6. In addition to Marquez, Iannone, Viñales, Redding, Lorenzo and Rossi form a sextet which should ensure an exciting race on Sunday.

For the Aspar Team riders, today was the first day in which Eugene Laverty got back onboard his Ducati after his fourth place at the Grand Prix of Argentina. The Northern Irishman, who crashed in the second practice session but escaped unhurt, has taken well to the Austin circuit and had a good feeling throughout the day. Laverty finished 0.130s off his teammate, Yonny Hernandez, who was fifteenth. The Colombian, who had a fall in the first session, hopes to cut further tenths off his time on Saturday and is aware that he has a good pace for the race itself.

15th Yonny Hernández 2.05.761 (26 laps): “We finished the first day with a good feeling, but with the hard rubber we could not ride as we had hoped. Tomorrow we’ll try a new tyre to see if the day goes better than today. If everything is in place, we can set a good time. I hope to give everything and try to improve my times, and I think it will be possible because I feel I have a good pace -and the fastest lap I set today was with used tyres. Tomorrow we will be able to cut a few tenths off our times.”

16th Eugene Laverty 2.05.891 (28 laps): “I was on a good lap time and I wanted to push for another one, but I crashed at Turn 2 and wasn’t able to improve. The feeling with the bike is good, the tyres are working well here at Austin and the asphalt is more normal than Argentina. We’ll keep pushing to try and get closer towards that Top 12. We tried a different front tyre, a new one, and I have a good feeling with it -it feels very stable and has good grip. From the tyre allocation we were only allowed to use one type of rear today, so we’ll try a different one tomorrow. We’ll be pushing for Q2 tomorrow, which we missed out on at the first two rounds.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

MOTOGP – FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE FOR APRILIA IN TEXAS

SET UP AND TYRE TESTS FOR BAUTISTA AND BRADL IN THE FIRST TWO SESSIONS AT THE CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS

It was a demanding first day for Aprilia at the COTA in Austin, Texas. The RS-GP is making its début on a rather complex track, capable of putting all the characteristics of the young Italian project to a hard test. The first free practice sessions demanding particular dedication from Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl as they searched for the best base setup to build on.

Working hard on a lot of tests, both on the setup and with the tyres, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders have still not gleaned as much as they had hoped on the flying lap, but they battled in a rather competitive area of the standings in both sessions. Bradl (17th with 2’05.922) demonstrated a pace that could place him in the respectable end of the standings during the first phases of FP2, but then in the final phase he fell short on the time attack. Bautista (18th with 2,06.157), on the other hand, identified coming out of turns as the area where he needs the most work, implementing changes that the team mechanics will apply after a careful telemetry analysis.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“Between this morning and this afternoon we managed to improve the setting, but we are still losing a lot coming out of turn, especially in the switchbacks. From low speeds I’m struggling to accelerate well because the bike tends to move around a lot. We have taken a step forward for the long turns and now I’m able to go into them better. Now we need to find something else to help us take another step forward. Looking at the times we aren’t too far behind the top 10 and that makes me hopeful for tomorrow”.

STEFAN BRADL

“After what happened in Argentina I expected to struggle more with the tyres, but instead I haven’t found any big problems. The track is slightly bumpier in the first part than it had been in the past, but overall I’m quite satisfied with the practice today. Of course we have a lot of small things to sort out and we especially need to find traction, but I think that if we continue to improve step by step we’ll be able to find a good setup for the race on Sunday”.

More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:

Texas starts tough for Miller and Rabat

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat experienced a difficult start to practice for this weekend’s MotoGP encounter at the breathtaking Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

The opening day at the 5.5km Austin track was a bruising affair for Miller, who fell heavily exiting turn 18 in this morning’s FP1.

The Australian underwent precautionary X-rays to check the high-speed crash had not damaged the right leg he broke in a pre-season motocross training accident.

Miller was declared fit for this afternoon’s second session and he showed bravery above and beyond the call of duty to complete 11 laps around arguably the most physical track on the 18-round World Championship campaign.

His heroic effort was rewarded with an improvement in lap time by over a second to place him 20th on the combined timesheets.

Spanish rider Tito Rabat had a promising FP1 session to finish only 0.7s away from the top 10 in 15th position.

The former Moto2 World Champion was unable to make expected progress in much hotter conditions this afternoon, with track temperature soaring from 25 to 38 degrees, which left Rabat struggling to find optimum rear grip under acceleration.

Jack Miller: 20th – 2’06.777

“It was a real shame to start the weekend off with a big crash like I had this morning. I had a good feeling on the first exit and then put in a new tyre on my second bike and I just didn’t generate enough heat in the rear before I started to push. I ended up crashing and it is a big shame because this is one of my favourite tracks and I’d already shown I’ve got some speed here. My right leg is pretty painful and I’ll work closely with the Clinica Mobile staff to help make me as comfortable as I can be to try again tomorrow and push hard for qualifying.”

Tito Rabat: 21st – 2’07.044

“I was very happy with FP1 this morning because I was in my best position so far at the end of the first session and not so far from the top 10. But this afternoon I had a bad feeling on the bike. I was struggling in acceleration with a lot of wheelspin and I just wasn’t fast enough. We are looking to see how we can improve for tomorrow and I am sure we can be stronger.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“After a very long journey to Texas we were hoping that today would have a better outcome. Jack had a very big crash this morning and it is clear he is struggling with some pain in his right foot and leg. He can only make a few laps and it is not easy for him on a track that is so tough on the body with the changes of direction and hard braking points. Tito didn’t have a good feeling with the bike and he was struggling to accelerate out of the corner. He will work hard with his crew overnight to try and find a solution with the set-up that allows him to be more competitive.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Iannone second and Dovizioso ninth at the end of first day of free practice for the GP of the Americas at Austin

The first day of free practice for the Grand Prix of the Americas, round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship to be held this weekend at the modern Circuit of the Americas near Austin (Texas), concluded with all the MotoGP riders setting their best times in the afternoon session.

Andrea Iannone recorded a time of 2’04.740, which earned him a provisional second place, on the final lap of FP2, finishing the session just 0.706 off the pace of today’s frontrunner Marquez.

His team-mate Andrea Dovizioso instead notched up a time of 2’05.195 and he finished the day ninth overall in the combined FP1 and FP2 standings.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 2’04.740 (2nd)

“My FP2 session was positive and we succeeded in improving a lot on this morning. We always used the same tyres throughout the session and lapped almost one second quicker on race pace. Obviously we still have some situations to analyze in detail: for example we have to improve a bit in T3, where I’m losing three or four tenths, but all in all I am fairly happy. It will be important to continue to work in this direction, because we started off well this morning and I’ve got an incredible feeling with my crew.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2’05.195 (9th)

“Unfortunately this afternoon we had a few technical issues that conditioned the session a bit. Luckily they were nothing serious and, in view of this problem, I am pretty happy with the time I managed to obtain. This is confirmation that our base settings are very good and that the bike also works well here, and I am sure that tomorrow we will be able to lap even quicker and move up the timesheets. The tyre situation is still not clear for us: we did a comparison with the front tyre but we still don’t have a complete picture, while we’ll try the harder rear tyre tomorrow to see what difference it makes.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

Baz y Barbera shine on the first day at Austin

Avintia Racing riders shine on board their Ducatis on the opening free practice session at the Circuit of the Americas today. Hector Barbera was fourth this morning and this afternoon was Baz who got the pace and finished seventh on the combined timesheets.

Loris Baz did a lap in 2’05.190 just over one second of Marc Marquez who dominated the first day of free practice at the 5.513km track. Hector Barbera improved his lap times from this morning, but this was not enough for the Spanish rider who expected to improve some tenths in the last minutes of the FP2 at Austin. But the tyre choice was not the best and he was not able to get the maximum performance. The Avintia Racing riders will be fighting to get a place in the Q2 tomorrow morning, and get the best out of their bikes in the afternoon to archive the best possible grid position for Sunday’s 21-laps-race.

Loris Baz | 2’05.190 | P7

“I’m happy because we were fast in both session, although this morning my position didn’t showed it. We could see that we were loosing too much time on the straights, but my team worked very hard with the electronics and this afternoon we were slightly better. Even so, I still loosing a little bit and this is something we’ll have to work in the future, because if we take out the time we are loosing on the straights here, I’ll be second… But this is what we have. I’m enjoying riding the bike and I liked the new Michelin tyre. We didn’t finished the first two races, but my feeling is coming back and I think we can do great here, I’m eager to show it on Sunday.”

Hector Barbera | 2’05.488 | P11

“This morning was perfect and we were really fast, but in the afternoon I finished a little bit angry. We did a good job and we did 2’06.0 with a 18 laps soft rear tyre, but when the time attack came, we made a mistake. We put one hard front tyre and a ne soft in the rear, so the rear was pushing the front at every corner and it was impossible to push going into the corners, and I was not able to improve. That’s why I’m not happy, because I know that I could be faster. Any way it’s only Friday and we can improve tomorrow and get the best possible position on the grid.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP GETS CRACKING IN FIRST COTA FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi had a positive start to the first free practice sessions at the Circuit Of The Americas (COTA) today, finishing in fifth and sixth position respectively in the combined standings.

Austin (Texas, USA), 8th April 2016

Having wrapped up the weekend in Argentina less than a week ago, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo was fast from the start of this morning session dropping competitive laps throughout the morning session, but struggled to produce the same form in the afternoon when encountered issues with his first bike and ended the day in fifth place.

The opposite was true for teammate Valentino Rossi, who was looking for a better feeling on his bike in the morning, but persisted to work hard on his YZR-M1‘s setting for Sunday‘s Grand Prix of the Americas and ended the day in sixth position.

Lorenzo started the first session with a strong determination to hit the ground running and did just that. He found a good pace from the beginning of the session and needed minimal tweaking to the setting of his YZR-M1 to match the hard-acceleration character of COTA. Clearly feeling at ease on his bike, he ended the morning session in second place with a best time of 2’05.208s, 0.255s from the front.

The Spaniard continued his form in the afternoon practice, which saw him look competitive again when he dropped under the 2‘05 mark and climbed up in the rankings. He gradually upping his pace, but was held back when he had some issues with his first bike. Yet he still ended the day within a second off the fastest times and concluded the afternoon session in sixth place with a best lap of 2’04.901s.

Teammate Rossi also had a solid start to the Americas GP, setting the provisional third fastest lap. He then moved his attention towards bettering the rear tyre performance. His best time of 2’06.252s saw him finish seventh in the morning rankings, but the day was far from over.

The Doctor continued to work on his YZR-M1‘s setting in the afternoon and saw results straight away when he set the provisional fastest lap, less than ten minutes into the session. He kept up his competitive pace for the remaining 35 minutes, but was pushed down to sixth place towards in the final stages of FP2, despite setting multiple fastest times in first and second sector, when the pace picked up.

Today‘s results put Lorenzo fifth in the combined free practice time sheets and Rossi in sixth.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

COTA is traditionally quite a difficult track for us, but both riders had a better feeling than over other years and over all today it‘s been quite a positive first day. Jorge had a good Free Practice session in the morning but in the afternoon he had an issue with his first bike, the one he was more comfortable with, so he couldn‘t achieve the results that he expected. Vale‘s side had some work to do after FP1, but they were able to improve the settings of the bike and accordingly his feeling. At the end of the session two he compromise his best lap with a little mistake on the turn 12 otherwise he could be half second faster. We still have a lot of work to do over night to prepare further improvement for both riders to let them better their lap times and rhythm before qualifying. Tomorrow will be also very important to decide on which tyres we‘ll race on Sunday and we‘ll also have the possibility to test the new medium on the rear.

JORGE LORENZO

In general the feeling is much better than over other years here. We need to improve. For some reason we had some problems with the first bike and couldn‘t take full advantage of the first session and show the maximum potential that we have right now, which I think is half a second faster than our lap time today. Let‘s see if tomorrow we can be on the first row.

VALENTINO ROSSI

The second session was not so bad. I was quite fast from the beginning and we tried something on the bike in the last run, but unfortunately I made two mistakes and I was not able to do a good lap. If I hadn‘t made the mistakes, I would have been able to stay closer to the front. I had quite a good potential because I‘m quite fast everywhere, but unfortunately we suffer a little bit too much in braking so we need to work to try to improve this part, because it‘s very easy to make mistakes. We need to understand the tyres. We have to wait for the hard rear that arrives tomorrow. Our decision on the front tyre is also still very open, we have three tyres to choose from. It will be difficult and I think the tyres will make the difference and will be key for the race.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Domination continues for Marquez on Friday in Austin

Not even a mid-session crash could stop Marc Marquez from commanding the field on Friday, Iannone and Viñales almost within touching distance.

After a productive Free Practice 1 session, riders in the MotoGP™ World Championship were straight back to work in Free Practice 2. Almost the entire field flooded out of the pits as soon as the session began, apart from Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) who had suffered a heavy crash at Turn 18 during Free Practice 1. The Australian had just recovered from a broken leg, the heavy crash forcing him to hop to his bike to begin the session. A small fracture was found on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot and as such he will undergo a medical check before FP3 on Saturday to decide if he is fit or not.

Unsurprisingly it was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who had set the pace in FP1, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) one of his favourite tracks. It was a bit of a slow start to the session for Marquez but once he found his groove he exploded to the top of the standings with a 2’04.560 on his sixth lap. The Spaniard looked set for a 2’03 lap with 25 minutes to go until he lost the front at Turn 20, he was immediately on his feet and pushed his bike all the way back to his pit box.

He would then go faster on his 11th lap of the session with a 2’04.034, continuing to edge closer and closer to his 2015 pole time. Marquez was untouchable as Friday came to a close, no rider able to get within half a second of the factory Honda rider. On only three occasions has Marquez failed to top a session he was a part of at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.

Once again it was three different manufacturers inside the top three as Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) managed to wrestle his Ducati into second. But he was 0.706s behind the merciless Marquez, unable to keep his pace. After his attempted pass in Argentina, Iannone was handed a three-place grid penalty by Race Direction for the Austin round. Therefore the Italian needs to focus as hard as he can on achieving a top grid spot on Saturday to ensure he is at least on the second row once his penalty is applied.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) rounded out the top three and was just 0.155s back on Iannone. Back in 2015, the Suzuki GSX-RR struggled a lot with the heavy acceleration demands of COTA but Viñales’ third in FP2 is proof of the development done by Suzuki. In Argentina he was not only able to match the Yamaha riders down the straight but also slipstream past them.

Fourth place saw Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) finish as the highest placed Independent Team rider and as the second Ducati. Once more it was the Bologna factory that took the lion’s share of the top five. The Brit is out to make amends after a number of technical problems destroyed his weekend in Argentina.

In fifth, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was the leading Yamaha rider and 0.867s back on Marquez. He was a meagre 0.006s back on Viñales in third place however, almost nothing dividing himself from Redding and his fellow Spaniard. Yamaha riders have often struggled at the Texan track, the new Michelin tyres easing the issue but it’s clear there is still work to be done. It has almost always been the front that has caused issues and more laps are needed to know if the issues still exist.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was sixth and within a tenth of his teammate. ‘The Doctor’ was able to complete 16 laps and gather more valuable data for his team as they turn their attention once more to race day.

Loris Baz (Avintia Racing), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) formed the top ten which was tighter than initial glances at the timesheets may have suggest. A second split Iannone in second from Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) in 15th. All of the 21 riders on track improved their times from FP1.

MotoGP™ will return to the Circuit of the Americas for FP3 on Saturday at 09:55 Local Time.

Rins wraps up Friday in first

Alex Rins continued his FP1 pace to FP2, leading both sessions and the day from Corsi and Zarco.

Times continued to fall dramatically during Free Practice 2 for the Moto2™ World Championship as Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) went under the circuit and pole record. In most classes a new circuit record would easily ensure a rider topped the timesheets, but in a class as competitive as Moto2™, nothing is certain and Zarco found himself quickly pushed down the order.

All of the top three would get under Xavier Simeon’s 2015 pole time but it was Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) who emerged fastest of them all. Rins would go top, and under the circuit record, on his 14th lap with a 2’09.564 and looked on course to improve the following lap until a small mistake saw him set a 2’09.622, still faster than the man in second.

A 2’09.744 put Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) in second position once again. There may be a limited number of Speed Up bikes on the grid, but they almost always go well at the Circuit of the Americas, Lowes having steered the bike to victory there in 2015. If the Roman can maintain a top three position during Qualifying, he’ll almost certainly be a contender come Sunday as he has the ability to battle with the best thanks to his penchant for an aggressive overtake.

FP2 saw an identical top three to FP1 as Johann Zarco managed to hang onto third. Having quietly gone about his business for much of the session, the reigning intermediate class World Champion put in a 2’09.760s on his 12th lap to go top of the session and record the provisional fastest ever Moto2™ lap at the American circuit. All of the top three riders were divided by under 0.2s of a second with everything building towards another close race as in Argentina.

Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the fourth and final rider able to lap in the 2’09s, 0.002s off the pole record. The Japanese rider has steadily been improving his speed in the opening two rounds but is still looking to convert it to race pace.

Fifth was a somewhat distant Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team), 0.808s off Rins’ lap and almost half a second behind Nakagami. His session was disrupted by a fall, coming off at Turn 20 in the closing ten minutes. He was uninjured but also unable to improve his time.

Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten), Dominique Aegerter (CarXpert Interwetten) and Luis Salom (SAG Team) rounded out the top ten.

Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) were the only two riders unable to improve their times in the second session.

Mid-session saw a crash involving both Lowes and Ratthapark Wilairot (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) at the final corner. Lowes was unhurt but Wilairot needed assistance in leaving the track, the Thai rider able to return to track for the final few minutes.

Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) fell soon after at Turn 11.

Moto2™ will be in action for FP3 on Saturday at 10:55 Local Time.

Quartararo leads Friday practice at the Americas GP

Times drop in Moto3™ FP2 as Fabio Quartararo leads the session and the day overall from Fenati and Antonelli.

During the morning session many riders and teams spent their time experimenting with the front end in an attempt to improve feeling. It was Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) who set the pace during Free Practice 1 with a 2’17.433. Navarro was immediately on the pace again with other riders getting tantalisingly close to his time within just three laps. On his fifth lap of the session, Romano Fenati (Sky Racing Team VR46) would set a new benchmark and from there the times would tumble lap after lap.

The Italian continued to drop his times and became the first rider of the weekend to set a 2’16. In typical Moto3™ style, his time would not protect him at the top as Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing) was able to set the fastest lap of the weekend. The French rider claimed his debut World Championship podium at the American circuit in 2015 and again showed well as he set a 2’16.250 to lead the session and top the combined timesheets. After two difficult rounds, this is exactly what Quartararo needed to boost his confidence and re-establish himself as a podium contender.

A mere 0.147s behind Quartararo was Fenati, the Italian improving to a 2’16.397 on his final lap of the session. This was an improvement of 1.5 seconds from Free Practice 1 for the Sky Racing Team VR46 rider. He was joined in the top three by fellow Italian Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) who was also within a third of a second of Quartararo’s time. The times of the top three are still almost a second slower than Danny Kent’s 2015 pole time.

Both Antonelli and Fenati are aiming to return to the top five after a difficult race in the mixed conditions of Argentina.

Navarro would eventually conclude the session down in fourth, all of the top four within 0.303s of each other. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) was fifth and the final rider able to lap in the 2’16s. Despite his lap time he was 0.306s behind Navarro and over half a second behind Quartararo.

Championship leader, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had a difficult session and ended down in 14th, 1.434s off the pace. The South African fitted new tyres late in the session and was unable to make a major impact on the timesheets for one of the first times in 2016. There’s still plenty of time to improve before the race on Sunday.

Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Francesco Bagnaia (Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3), Philipp Oettl (Schedl GP Racing) and Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team) were all inside the top ten. Every rider out on track in Free Practice 2 was able to improve their time from the first session. Most riders were able to go at least one second faster as they improved their feeling on the American track.

Once again a number of riders had their lap times cancelled for exceeding track limits. Come Qualifying on Saturday, remaining inside the circuit will be crucial as the removal of a potential pole time would be devastating.

Stefano Valtulini (3570 Team Italia) fell at Turn 6 in the opening stages of the session but was unharmed.

Moto3™ will be back on track for FP3 on Saturday at 09:00 Local Time.

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

CRUTCHLOW TENTH AFTER DAY ONE IN TEXAS

Cal Crutchlow ended the first day of Grand Prix of the Americas in tenth place after two free practice sessions, with the LCR Honda rider improving his lap time by nearly one and a half seconds in the afternoon run.

The Briton riding the Rizoma branded RCV no. 35 is convinced that with some work on the information collected today he will be back to his fighting best when practice resumes on Saturday morning.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 10th (2’05.393)

“Today was a difficult day, we never found the perfect setting with the bike, but we tried lots of things so maybe when we have a look at the data tonight we can find a combination that works. We also had some strange feelings from the tyres in certain areas of the track, but it’s the same for everybody and we have to work on this for tomorrow. I’m excited to be able to try some things then.”

“Electronically we need to make some small adjustments, but the Team worked very well. The two sessions were difficult because it was hard to judge the track conditions, but I am looking forward to tomorrow and being able to improve”.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

Fantastic Friday at Austin: Redding impressive (4th), Pirro heroic (12th)

“Thank God it’s Friday!”. At the end of a spectacular Friday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Octo Pramac Yakhnich forgets the hardships for 70 hours journey necessary to get to the States from Argentina and now looks with great confidence to Saturday’s qualifying of the third round of the 2016 MotoGP season.

After ending up sixth fastest in morning’s FP1, Scott Redding managed to make a significant step forward in the afternoon gaining fourth position, only 4 milliseconds behind the virtual front row. Scott started FP2 well but was unable to capitalize on two consecutive fast laps (setting the top speed of the day with 342.2 km/h) due to heavy traffic on track which forced him to slow down. In his last run, lapping alone, the British rider took advantage of the full power of his Desmodromic engine notching up a great time of 2’04.889, 4 milliseconds from Vinales and one-tenth of a second behind Iannone.

Michele Pirro started with great satisfaction his second weekend on Octo Pramac Yakhnich Ducati Desmosedici GP. The twelfth place finish of the Fiamme Oro rider is worth a lot because it was set on the last lap which Pirro completed with a hole in the right leg of his leathers after he avoided a crash. Pirro has shown great courage by continuing to run very fast and crossed the finish line with a time of 2’05.597, 2/10 of a second from the Top 10.

4th – Scott Redding

2’04.899

It was a good practice. The feeling with the bike is very good although I felt not comfortable with the front hard tire. I think we can work on this. With used tires, however, things went well and this gives me confidence for the race. Tomorrow we will have some options to figure out which is the best tire for the race. And I hope to do very well in qualifying.

12th – Michele Pirro

2’05.597

I’m happy for what we have done in FP2 mainly because in the morning I had a problem with the bike that made me lose the rhythm. And that’s a problem because I’m lapping for the first time on this track. This afternoon I managed to keep a good pace and to constantly improve myself. Probably I could do better in the last two laps but I had to face a problem with my leathers. I had to be a bit more cautious but I am happy because Marquez apart are not far from the front group. Tomorrow i want to improve and I will try to get to Q2.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

VIÑALES AND SUZUKI ECSTAR ON THE PACE AT COTA MotoGP™

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales put together a potential front-row starting position with third place in today’s second Free Practice session ahead of round three of the MotoGP™ World Championship at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas as team-mate Aleix Espargaró suffered a small get-off in the closing stages and finished 14th.

Both riders improved their lap-times and also settings aboard their GSX-RRs; Viñales scored a lap-time of 2’04.895 compared his earlier FP1 time of 2:06.337, while Espargaró clocked a 2’05.662-lap (2’06.482 in FP1).

The morning session was spent by both to get acquainted with the new grip of the track, as well as the tyres and set-up. The lap-times dropped pretty quickly and both Viñales and Espargaró found good feelings and efficiency with their GSX-RRs.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“We are happy about the progress we’ve made with Maverick during the day, as this morning we were not as competitive as we wanted to be. Finally, in the two sessions we found a good time on the single lap, but also a good pace, which meant we made some progress. It still can be improved, therefore we will continue the work with him tomorrow. Aleix, as well, made some good progress but unfortunately he couldn’t close his last lap, which was the time-attack lap, because he incurred a light crash, but his improvements are solid and his feelings are good; he found a good set-up and we have a positive direction to work towards to.”

Maverick Viñales:

“We have done a good job today, we did many improvements throughout the sessions and most importantly I did my best time with worn and used tyres, which mean we are pretty confident with the pace. We still miss some improvements, we already have some ideas and I guess tomorrow we will go to improve further. I feel very confident in sector 1 and 2, more technical and fast, which are the ideal path for my GSX-RR’s characteristics. I still miss something with the stability in hard braking, and this is the reason why I lose-out in sector 3 and 4. But we are conscious of the problems and this will allow us to find effective solutions. The step forward we made from the morning to the afternoon is very important, but yet this is not enough; tomorrow the others will improve a lot and therefore we must do the same.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“Today we made some positive improvements and my lap-times dropped a lot from the morning to the afternoon. The position in classification is not yet satisfying but the feeling I have is good; we found a good set-up and this allowed me to improve little-by-little. We had the chance to try different tyres and we gained some very useful feedback. Maybe if we’d been a little luckier I could be into the top-six, but we still have another session tomorrow morning and we can improve as there is a lot of room for improvement.”