Marc Marquez showed some of his best form in Friday’s free practice at the Circuit of the Americas as he led both sessions when MotoGP returned to the United States for the first time in two and a half years.
The Spaniard – well known for his preference for the more unusual counterclockwise circuit setup – was fastest in the humidity and again in the afternoon’s dry session for end the day in the lead for Repsol Honda.
Despite the circuit length of over 2 minutes, it was however close to the top with Jack Miller just 0.015 seconds behind the six-time MotoGP world champion as the top-ranked Ducati.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo quickly took the lead over Pecco Bagnaia ahead of what could be a pivotal race for both title fighters, with the Frenchman again by far the fastest Yamaha rider in third, while Bagnaia could only settle for sixth place.
Between them, Honda got off to a good start to the weekend with Pol Espargaro in fourth place, just ahead of his LCR counterpart Takaaki Nakagami.
Pramac Ducati duo Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco were behind Bagnaia, while Alex Rins – 2019 COTA winner – was the best Suzuki in ninth and Misano star Enea Bastianini completed the top ten.
Elsewhere, there were crashes for Aleix Espargaro – leaving him 19th on Aprilia’s only entry – and Miguel Oliveira, the latter’s fall compounding a day that did not allow KTM to place its motorcycles in the top. ten.
MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas 2021 | Free practice results [FP1 + FP2]
| MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas 2021 | Free practice results [FP1 + FP2] | Tour 15/18 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | MotoGP Team | Moto GP | Hourly |
| 1 | Marc Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 2m 04.164 |
| 2 | Jack miller | AUS | The Ducati Lenovo team | Ducati GP21 | 2m 04.179 |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | ENG | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 2m 04.366 |
| 4 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 2m 04.552 |
| 5 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda Idemitsu | Honda RC213V | 2m 04.612 |
| 6 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | The Ducati Lenovo team | Ducati GP21 | 2m 04.663 |
| 7 | Jorge martin | ESP | Pramac race | Ducati GP21 | 2m 04.677 |
| 8 | Johann zarco | ENG | Pramac race | Ducati GP21 | 2m 04.723 |
| 9 | Alex Rins | ESP | Suzuki Ecstar Team | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2m 04.802 |
| ten | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Avintia Esponsorama | Ducati GP19 | 2m 04.836 |
| 11 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Race | KTM RC16 | 2m 04.852 |
| 12 | Luca Marini | ITA | Sky VR46 Esponsorama | Ducati GP19 | 2m 04.932 |
| 13 | Joan mir | ESP | Suzuki Ecstar Team | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2m 05.094 |
| 14 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 2m 05.137 |
| 15 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 2m 05.296 |
| 16 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda RC213V | 2m 05.614 |
| 17 | Valentino rossi | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 2m 05.631 |
| 18 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM Factory Race | KTM RC16 | 2m 05.682 |
| 19 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 2m 06.209 |
| 20 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 2m 06.235 |
| 21 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 2m 06.257 |
