Repsol riders make positive start in practice, with Alex Rins second quickest and Alex Marquez eighth.
The second round of the Moto3 World Championship is underway, running from today until Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. In their first ride at the new US track, Alex Rins placed second overall, behind Maverick Viñales. Alex Marquez was eighth quickest.
In the first of two free practice sessions, Rins and Marquez placed sixth and seventh, respectively. At the end of the day, with 29 laps under his belt, Rins had stopped the clock in a best time of 2’18.793. He was 0.539 off timesheet-topper Viñales. Marquez, meanwhile, put in 28 laps and had a best time of 2’20.395. That was 2.141 seconds off the top spot.
Tomorrow, the third practice session takes place first, ahead of qualifying, which kicks off at 12:35 local time (19:35 CET) and will decide the grid for Sunday’s race.
Alex Rins >> Audio
FP1: 2:22.735, 15 laps, 83 km.
FP2: 2:18.793, 14 laps, 77 km.
“It is a very fun circuit, but at the same time it is a tricky one. It has rises and drops, a very fast first section and a slower second part. In the morning we had a bit of trouble finding our pace, because the asphalt didn’t offer any grip. In the second session we had a bit of an improvement in this respect, with more rubber on the surface. Nevertheless, I think that the track can improve a lot more.”
Alex Márquez >> Audio
FP1: 2:23.120, 14 laps, 77 km.
FP2: 2:20.395, 14 laps, 77 km.
“The first day went fairly well. At the moment the differences between riders is large, but I think that we still have to continue in the same way. In the morning the track was very dirty and it was hard to find a good line, but in the afternoon the asphalt was in much better shape and we were able to go faster. Tomorrow we have to continue developing and looking to find the limit –in order to do well in qualifying. The track is really good; it has a section with linked corners and also a slower part, which is very fun.”
