Jorge Martin smashed the MotoGP lap record during the second practice session for this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas at the Circuit of the Americas.
The Pramac rider posted an astounding 2:01.397s time, which at one stage put him over half a second clear of the rest of the field before the final runs occurred.
Maverick Vinales replicated his strong showing from the earlier practice session as he wound up second, with team-mate Aleix Espargaro also securing a Q2 spot.
Trackhouse Aprilia had Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez fail to make the cut, but places outside the top 10 stand both in good stead for the team’s home race.
Enea Bastianini booked a comfortable passage through in fourth, but Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia required a vital late effort to climb the order into eighth.
In the KTM camp, Pedro Acosta came out on top with the GasGas team. However, the KTM duo and his team-mate have it all to do in tomorrow’s qualifying session.
Brad Binder finished in 14th and Jack Miller even further back in 16th position, with Acosta’s team-mate, Augusto Fernandez, sandwiched in between the pair in 15th.
Franco Morbidelli’s much-improved weekend resumed as he classified seventh, with VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Gianantonio and Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the top 10.
Meanwhile, the Marquez brothers sustained a mixed session, with COTA specialist Marc in third but Alex falling short in his bid to follow his team-mate through into Q2.
The last six places on the practice timesheets belonged to the two struggling Japanese marques, with Yamaha riders finishing ahead of both LCR and factory Honda.
Like in Qatar, Johann Zarco finished as the lead Honda rider, ahead of factory duo Joan Mir and Luca Marini and the Frenchman’s LCR team-mate Takaaki Nakagami.
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