The reigning MotoGP World Champion headed the timesheets in the first practice session and finished the day with the second fastest time, 44 thousandths off the top spot. Jorge Lorenzo ended Friday sixteenth.
Marc Márquez made a solid start to the Grand Prix of the Americas, going fastest in FP1 and much of FP2 – until everybody put on soft tyres in anticipation of the rain forecast for tomorrow.
Jorge Lorenzo improved his lap times by two seconds between FP1 and FP2, and was 1.3 seconds off the pacesetter, in 16th place.
In an emotional act, the number 69 with which the late Nicky Hayden was proclaimed MotoGP World Champion with the Repsol Honda Team in 2006 was retired at the circuit on Friday.
MARC MÁRQUEZ | 2nd
“Today was not a straight forward day, the circuit has changed a lot since last year and it’s bumpy so we had to adapt to this. We also had some other areas to work on and some things to try to improve our pace. The rhythm and the pace is there so we are happy and we even tried the soft rear to get a good lap. Overall it was a productive day and we did what we needed to. Of course this weekend we also have Nicky Hayden in our minds, remembering a great champion.”
JORGE LORENZO | 16th
“A tricky day today. First of all the track is very bumpy for everyone and we need to improve a little bit to handle this. The circuit for me personally is always very difficult so it is quite complicated but we won’t give up. We’re trying many things to improve the bike and still perfecting the ergonomics to feel comfortable when changing direction. It was very special to have the ceremony for Nicky today, we all miss him a lot.”
