MotoGP’s return to Americas in Texas this weekend sees a VR46 rider in the lead of the championship for the first time, after Marco Bezzecchi took victory in the Argentina GP two weeks ago.
A late tumble for the championship leader in the latter stages time attack left Bezzecchi down in 13th, as his team-mate stole the headlines.
A 2m03.250s on a fresh soft rear tyre put Marini 0.150 seconds clear of the field, with the chasing pack led by Quartararo as the 2021 world champion looks to get his campaign off the ground properly at the Circuit of the Americas after a tough start to 2023.
The opening 15 minutes of the session at a gloomy-but-dry COTA was dominated by Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez.
Marquez – whose absent brother Marc has won at COTA all but twice since MotoGP first visited the Texan venue in 2013 – took over top spot seven minutes in with a 2m05.244s.
The Gresini rider would improve to a 2m04.222s with just under 32 of the 45-minute session left to run.
This would keep Marquez at the head of the standings for around 15 minutes before Quartararo, running a fresh medium rear on his factory Yamaha, took over with a 2m04.201s.
Quartararo, who has scored just 18 points from the opening two rounds, improved to a 2m04.125s prior to the majority of the field – including the Yamaha rider – switching to soft slicks for a late time attack.
Former team-mate Maverick Vinales made the first move on his Aprilia with a 2m03.897s to depose Quartararo, before Marini hit the top of the order with a 2m03.806s with three minutes left on the clock.
Quartararo wrestled top spot back with a 2m03.691s on his penultimate lap on fresh soft rubber, and though he improved to a 2m03.400s on his last effort, it wasn’t enough to overhaul Marini’s session-topping 2m03.250s.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Johann Zarco completed the top three on his Pramac Ducati head of Marquez and KTM’s Jack Miller, who recovered from a slow tip-off on the exit of Turn 12 midway through the session to go fifth.
Jorge Martin, who is battling illness coming into this weekend, was sixth on his Pramac Ducati from reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia – the factory Ducati rider doing his best lap on medium rubber.
Vinales, LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami and KTM’s Brad Binder rounded out the top 10, which could prove crucial in deciding the qualifying groups for Saturday should forecast rain arrive in FP2…
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