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Austin MotoGP: Marc Marquez leads Maverick Vinales in practice one

Marc Marquez unsurprisingly set the pace in opening MotoGP practice at Austin - a track where he is unbeaten - but he was pushed hard by Yamaha's Maverick Vinales

Honda rider Marquez was consistently the fastest rider as the track rubbered-in. He worked down to 2m06.252s four laps into his first run.

Vinales suffered a huge moment on the exit of the long Turn 18 early on his second run - just avoiding what would have been a 100mph high-side.

He recovered quickly to set the fastest time of the session at that point, a 2m06.023s. He shaved 0.002s off that on his next lap, despite having to pass a rival.

Marquez then unleashed a 2m05.311s to top the times with 10 minutes remaining, with Vinales responding with 2m05.389s - just 0.078s slower.

Reigning world champion Marquez has won every MotoGP race held at the Circuit of the Americas since it joined the calendar in 2013.

Jack Miller was third fastest on his Pramac Ducati, with a late lap of 2m05.936s just pipping the works Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso.

There was drama for Ducati at the halfway point of the session as Dovizioso stopped on track at the end of the third sector when his bike appeared to cut out while on an out-lap and then coasted to a halt. The stranded Italian had to find a lift back to the pits before hopping on his second bike.

Valentino Rossi was fifth on his Yamaha, 0.731s off the pace, ahead of an impressive Pol Espargaro on the factory KTM.

Fabio Quartararo, Cal Crutchlow and the Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone rounded out the top 10.

Friday morning practice was the riders' first opportunity to refamiliarise themselves with the Austin track's infamous bumps, with the run between Turn 1 and 2 featuring a notable jump that destabilised the bikes considerably.

Practice one times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Marc Marquez Honda 2m05.311s - 15
2 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 2m05.389s 0.078s 16
3 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 2m05.936s 0.625s 15
4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m05.963s 0.652s 13
5 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m06.042s 0.731s 18
6 Pol Espargaro KTM 2m06.327s 1.016s 17
7 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 2m06.332s 1.021s 16
8 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 2m06.482s 1.171s 15
9 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2m06.497s 1.186s 16
10 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2m06.692s 1.381s 16
11 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 2m06.729s 1.418s 16
12 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 2m06.732s 1.421s 14
13 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 2m06.807s 1.496s 16
14 Joan Mir Suzuki 2m06.863s 1.552s 17
15 Alex Rins Suzuki 2m06.883s 1.572s 17
16 Johann Zarco KTM 2m06.888s 1.577s 15
17 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 2m06.978s 1.667s 16
18 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 2m07.234s 1.923s 16
19 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 2m07.407s 2.096s 17
20 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 2m08.035s 2.724s 15
21 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 2m08.175s 2.864s 17
22 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 2m09.338s 4.027s 15



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