The start of the MotoGP Americas GP was not very encouraging for Honda. The manufacturer achieved its last victory precisely in Austin about a year ago and has a long history of success with a total of eight wins (seven of them obtained by Marc Márquez).
However, this year, it seems that the task will be much more complicated. The four Honda riders finished in the last four positions of the practice session. Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) was the fastest of the quartet, in 19th place 1.617s behind leader Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) and 0.139s behind the rival immediately ahead, Álex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha).
Next came the riders from the Repsol Honda official team, with Joan Mir in 20th nearly half a second behind Zarco. Luca Marini was 21st and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) finished in last place. FP1 was a bit more encouraging, but not much: Zarco and Nakagami closed the table, while Marini was 15th and Mir 16th, always at the bottom of the standings.
Tomorrow, the second free practice session will give Honda half an hour to try to improve something before qualifying and the Sprint race. However, the task is not expected to be easy, with very little time to make significant progress – especially on a track where a lap is completed in over two minutes.
