The Frenchman sets the pace as Miller gets some mojo back, with Quartararo a close third on Friday – and Marquez sixth
A silky smooth lap at the end of FP2 handed Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) the number one spot on the timesheets on Friday at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas.
The Frenchman’s 2:02.542 was enough to beat Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) by 0.247s to earn himself some breathing space, with reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) completing the top three.
Elsewhere, the returning Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) ended Day 1 in sixth, whereas World Championship leader Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) sits outside the top 10 – with work to do for the Argentina GP race winner in FP3 to move through into Q2.
FP1
Some fantastic pace in the final handful of laps saw Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) end FP1 as the fastest rider on track, but only 0.008s split the Spaniard from compatriot Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing). Rins’ 2:04.007 benchmark was over four tenths clear of third place Miller though.
He had encountered an issue with his GSX-RR with about 20 minutes to go and then had to pit for fuel on his second bike, but that didn’t stop the 2019 Americas GP winner.
Quartararo began his weekend with a P4, the Frenchman 0.443 behind Rins in the opening 45-minute stint, with Marc Marquez’ return getting off the ground with a very solid P5.
Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) crashed unhurt at Turn 18 in the early exchanges of the session, and then he too had a technical issue at the end of the session.
