10/01/2021 |
Christina Bulpett |
MotoGP
Image: GeeBee Pictures
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez demonstrated his MotoGP strength in Friday practice in both wet and dry conditions around his beloved Circuit of the Americas.
The recovering champion appears to be heading back to winning ways as he prepared for the Austin GP with a 2’04.164 on Friday ahead of Ducati’s Jack Miller and title favorite Fabio Quartararo.
On a dry afternoon, little changed in the overall standings when the FP2 got going. Marquez continued his dominance in the opening laps, followed from third place by Miller with Quartararo, who found a more familiar stance under the favorable conditions.
Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins kept their pace in the top 6, with Jorge Martin overtaking his team-mate Pramac in fourth place after just as many laps. Andrea Dovizioso found a strong start in the dry after 10 minutes of action in the top 10, his compatriot Petronas, Valentino Rossi, came in 18th.
Miller and Marquez argued over position as the session progressed, with Pol Espargaro joining the fun in third on his fifth attempt, while Joan Mir was sixth. Brad Binder rose to third place after half an hour while Oliveira and Iker Lecuona continued the KTM show on the edge of the top 10.
Pecco Bagnaia was on the way after 20 minutes when the Ducati man reached the top 5, Takaaki Nakagami rolled in ahead of Martin, Mir and Oliveira, while Aleix Espargaro fought in 16th place.
The LCR driver advanced again five minutes later and climbed to third place before going completely out of shape on his next spin. Oliveira improved the lap on his ninth attempt and was 0.001 seconds behind Miller’s Ducati – just a hundredth in second to fourth place before the final quarter of an hour approached.
Marquez maintained his half-second dominance after two-thirds of the session were dealt with, his younger brother just behind the promotion zone and a second off his overall best. Miller improved to within a tenth of the Honda in the closing stages before the time attacks began to prepare.
Yellow flags were hoisted in the third sector as Rins tried to push for his first hot lap. Lecuona made a mistake at Turn 12.
Bagnaia and then Nakagami drove into the 2’04 with six minutes to go. Miller shared the two with his first attempt before Mir began his attack and found fourth. The drama struck when Espargaro crashed the Aprilia in the last sector, before Oliveira did the same 12 moments later on the corner.
Quartararo took the lead with a quarter of a second and two minutes left on the clock. Nakagami, Miller, Bagnaia and Rins occupy the top five places, while Dovizioso landed in sixth place. The timing screens glowed red as the last minute counted down, and Marquez returned to claim the crown on a 2,04,164 as Martin pushed into fifth place. One final uproar put Espargaro in the top three, just four tenths behind its Respol partner, with Mir possibly starting the second quarter – weather permitting – from Jan.
Miller was runner-up again, just 0.015 seconds behind his session-long rivals from Quartararo, Espargaro and Nakagami when the flag waved. Bagnaia, Martin and Zarco finished sixth to eighth ahead of Rins, with Enea Bastianini ending an outstanding day for Ducati in the top 10.
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