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MotoGP Americas: Marquez tops first practice session ahead of Rossi

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez set the pace in first practice at Austin, beating nearest challenger Valentino Rossi by four tenths of a second

Marquez sat at the top of the time sheets for almost all of the 45-minute session at the Circuit of the Americas, a track where the Spaniard is unbeaten.

He ended up setting a best time of 2m05.530s.

The Honda rider was more than a second clear of the field in the early stages, with the track surface dirty during the initial running, but Marquez's rivals were able to close in on their final efforts.

The track has undergone a diamond-grinding process in recent weeks, in an effort to eliminate its notorious bumps, but this has left a lot of dusty residue on the surface.

Maverick Vinales was the first rider to get within half a second of Marquez, but it was his Yamaha team-mate Rossi who beat him to second spot, 0.396s off the pace.

Vinales finished the session 0.727s down in third.

Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo was the final rider to get within a second of Marquez in fourth place, ahead of LCR Honda's current points leader Cal Crutchlow, and the second works Desmosedici of Andrea Dovizioso.

Rookie Takaaki Nakagami (LCR) was a surprising seventh, ahead of lead Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco (Tech3 Yamaha), who lost time early on when he stopped out on track in the opening minutes and then had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits.

Alex Rins (Suzuki) completed the top 10 ahead of Aprilia duo Aleix Espargaro and Scott Redding, who ran second in the early stages.

After being declared to fit to ride at COTA on Thursday, Dani Pedrosa struggled to 21st place, 3.581s off the pace of his team-mate Marquez.

FP1 results

Pos Rider Team Gap Laps
1 Marc Marquez Honda 2m05.530s 17
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 0.396s 16
3 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 0.727s 19
4 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 0.950s 15
5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1.009s 16
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1.204s 16
7 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 1.480s 17
8 Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1.563s 15
9 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha 1.594s 13
10 Alex Rins Suzuki 1.681s 17
11 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1.901s 15
12 Scott Redding Aprilia 1.929s 14
13 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 1.993s 14
14 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 2.132s 20
15 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati 2.344s 16
16 Pol Espargaro KTM 2.418s 14
17 Bradley Smith KTM 2.631s 16
18 Thomas Luthi MVDS Honda 2.704s 16
19 Franco Morbidelli MVDS Honda 2.842s 15
20 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 Yamaha 3.289s 16
21 Dani Pedrosa Honda 3.581s 15
22 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati 3.797s 15
23 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 4.178s 13
24 Xavier Simeon Avintia Ducati 4.896s 16


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