Francesco Bagnaia was among the fastest on Friday in Austin, finishing fourth in the afternoon session for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas. He was 0.411s behind Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), who set the fastest lap with a new circuit record.
The Ducati two-time world champion believes the Spaniard was one of the strongest, but Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) showed better pace – although he points out that it was difficult to read the session:
– In the morning, the strongest was [Enea] Bastianini, while in the afternoon it was more difficult to understand the levels in play. Martín and Viñales certainly did a good lap, but in terms of pace, Maverick was faster. I focused a lot on myself and I know where I can still improve.
Regarding Martín in particular, Bagnaia was confident that he is a rival within reach: ‘I think we can surpass him, we will see. I am happy with my fast lap, but it was nothing special, nothing incredible. On my first outing on track, I used the soft tire for the first time and didn’t do a good lap, so it was important to close the second one. I kept some margin, it was right not to take too many risks since at that moment I was outside the Q2‘.
One of the contenders not mentioned by Bagnaia was Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) – who set the third fastest time yesterday, 0.409s behind Martín, being only two thousandths faster than the Italian.
