Marc Marquez looked in a class of his own on Friday at the Grand Prix of the Americas, topping free practice by a full second from Andrea Dovizioso. The world champion dominated on the way to his maiden victory here a year ago and appears to be odds-on favourite to do so again based on today’s events.
Ominously for his rivals, Marquez set his quickest time, a 2:03.490, on the harder tyre with second placed Dovizioso using the soft compound available to open-class entrants to set a 2:04.495. Of the other factory runners, Dani Pedrosa was best placed in third although he trailed his teammate by 1.133s with Valentino Rossi the quickest Yamaha in fifth just behind Andrea Iannone’s open Pramac Ducati.
Aleix Espargaro’s sensational practice form from Qatar hasn’t quite carried over to Austin just yet, although the Forward Racing rider was second quickest in the morning session. The improvements of others pushed him back to sixth in the afternoon with Stefan Bradl and Jorge Lorenzo just behind as the two-time former champion continued to struggle despite the reintroduction of Bridgestone’s 2013 tyres for this event.
Cal Crutchlow sits just inside the top ten overnight despite a technical problem which halted him in the opening session this morning while Bradley Smith is in possession of the final automatic Q2 spot as it stands, although he probably has intentions to qualify a little higher than his current tenth position. Scott Redding had a fine day though, finishing as the top production Honda rider in thirteenth place.
 2014 RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS – COMBINED TIMES AFTER FP2 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  MARC MARQUEZ |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:03.490 |
| 2 |  ANDREA DOVIZIOSO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:04.495 |
| 3 | DANI PEDROSA |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:04.623 |
| 4 | ANDREA IANNONE |
DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 2:04.669 |
| 5 | VALENTINO ROSSI |
YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 2:04.793 |
| 6 | ALEIX ESPARGARO |
FORWARD YAMAHA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 2:04.844 |
| 7 |  STEFAN BRADL |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 2:04.870 |
| 8 | JORGE LORENZO |
YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 2:04.976 |
| 9 |  CAL CRUTCHLOW |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:04.981 |
| 10 | BRADLEY SMITH |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:05.366 |
| 11 | ALVARO BAUTISTA |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:05.453 |
| 12 | POL ESPARGARO |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:05.672 |
| 13 | SCOTT REDDING |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:05.937 |
| 14 | NICKY HAYDEN |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:06.188 |
| 15 |  YONNY HERNANDEZ |
DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 2:06.376 |
| 16 | COLIN EDWARDS |
FORWARD YAHAMA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 2:06.880 |
| 17 |  HIROSHI AOYAMA |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:07.034 |
| 18 |  KAREL ABRAHAM |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 2:07.053 |
| 19 | HECTOR BARBERA |
AVINTIA | AVINTIA RACING | 2:07.211 |
| 20 | DANILO PETRUCCI |
ART | IODARACING PROJECT | 2:08.379 |
| 21 | MICHAEL LAVERTY |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:08.973 |
| 22 |  BROC PARKES |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:09.004 |
| 23 |  MIKE DI MEGLIO |
AVINTIA | AVINTIA RACING | 2:09.247 |
