Jorge Martin was fastest during MotoGP World Championship Practice Friday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his Prima Pramac Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP24, the Spaniard lapped the 3.4-mile (5.5 km) track in 2:01.397. Not only was that fast enough to top the field of 22 riders, it was also fast enough to smash Francesco Bagnaia’s All-Time Lap Record of 2:01.892.
Maverick Vinales was also under the old lap record with a 2:01.473 on his factory Aprilia RS-GP, and Marc Marquez posted the third-best lap time, a 2:01.806, on his Gresini Racing Ducati. Two-time and defending MotoGP World Champion Bagnaia was also under his old record with a 2:01.808, which ended up being fourth-fastest.
The top 10 riders from Friday afternoon’s Practice advance directly to Qualifying Two (Q2) on Saturday. The riders who were outside of the top 10 in Practice will go to Qualifying One (Q2) and try to advance from there to Q2 so they can fight for a spot on the front four rows of the grid.