Riders face wet conditions for first free practice session in Austin, but the second session stays dry. Aoyama, standing in for Pedrosa at the next two races, places sixteenth.
Rain welcomed the MotoGP riders to Austin as the premier class field undertook a first day of practice for the GP of the Americas. Although the opening session was contested in the wet, the rain halted before the second runout and the riders were able to put in laps on a dry track. Marc Marquez was second in the first session behind Dovizioso, but was the fastest of the day with his time in dry conditions.
The Repsol Honda rider completed 15 laps in the morning session, with his quickest time coming on his 14th. He was 0.462s off Dovizioso in the rain. In the afternoon on a dry track, the reigning MotoGP World Champion completed ten laps; his final lap was a 2:04.835 to top the timesheets.
His teammate for the next two races, whilst Dani Pedrosa recovers from an operation on his right forearm, Hiroshi Aoyama finished in a creditable sixteenth position. Despite the difficult conditions, the Japanese rider –who has already competed for Repsol Honda at Assen in 2011– managed to take things in his stride and work with a cautious approach. His best time of 2:07.268 left him just over 2 seconds behind Marquez.
Saturday morning will see the all-important qualifying session that will define the grid for Sunday’s race.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
1st – 2:04.835, 25 laps, 138 km
“Today was a positive day and in general it went fairly well. In the morning we rode in wet conditions, which was important because it is possible that Sunday’s race will be under the same circumstances and we were able to discard a few things. In the second session we were able to ride in the dry and, although we only put in five fast laps, the feeling was good and we could draw a few conclusions. Let’s hope that tomorrow the weather is dry and we can continue trying out some modifications to the bike to improve further –although the important thing is that our initial feeling is positive.”
Hiroshi Aoyama >> Audio
16th – 2:07.268, 29 laps, 160 km
“Unfortunately this morning’s session was in wet conditions which wasn’t the easiest start for me in learning how to ride this bike. We adjusted the bike a little and by the end I had more confidence. This afternoon it was slightly damp still but we rode on the slicks so I could get some experience in drier conditions. We didn’t really change too much on the bike, I just needed to put in some laps as I’m still missing a good feeling on the bike.”
