Acosta beats Di Giannantonio in Austin free practice, scare for Marquez
It is Pedro Acosta the fastest rider in the first free practice session of the U.S. Grand Prix. The Spaniard, riding his KTM, set the fastest time, lapping in 2’01″715, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati by one tenth. Closing the top 3 is the Aprilia of Jorge Martin, two tenths behind the leader.
In fourth position Marc Marquez (Ducati), who took a big risk after ten minutes from the start of the session: the reigning world champion, in fact, was the victim of a nasty crash at over 190 km/h at Turn 10 that forced the organizers to immediately wave the red flag.
Just a big scare for the Cabroncito who, despite an abrasion to his right arm and another to the palm of his left hand, managed to return to the track in the last minutes of practice, finishing less than four tenths behind Acosta. Raul Fernandez’s Team Trackhouse Aprilia finished fifth, ahead of Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing), sixth.
Only ninth was current MotoGP leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), nearly five tenths behind his teammate Martin. The Romagna native finished ahead of the other Pertamina Enduro VR 46 Racing Team Ducati of Franco Morbidelli and the factory Ducati of Pecco Bagnaia, just outside the top ten.
MotoGP, US GP free practice, order of finish:
1 Pedro Acosta – 2’01.715
2 Fabio Di Giannantonio – 2’01.818
3 Jorge Martin – 2’01.936
4 Marc Marquez – 2’02.093
5 Raul Fernandez – 2’02.210
6 Alex Marquez – 2’02.304
7 Luca Marini – 2’02.365
8 Ai Ogura – 2’02.388
9 Marco Bezzecchi – 2’02.425
10 Franco Morbidelli – 2’02.470
11 Francesco Bagnaia – 2’02.511
12 Jack Miller – 2’02.631
13 Maverick Viñales – 2’02.632
14 Enea Bastianini – 2’02.718
15 Alex Rins – 2’02.750
16 Brad Binder – 2’02.766
17 Joan Mir – 2’02.877
18 Fabio Quartararo – 2’02.947
19 Toprak Razgatlioglu – 2’03.037
20 Johann Zarco – 2’03.056
21 Diogo Moreira – 2’03.125
22 Fermin Aldeguer – 2’03.324
