Marc Marquez made use of some rare dry track-time to set the pace in second practice ahead of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin. The world champion led a Honda 1-2 ahead of LCR’s Cal Crutchlow with Andrea Iannone leading the chasing pack in third for Ducati.
After first practice took place exclusively in the wet, the riders will have been praying for the rain to relent and their wishes were granted in the afternoon. With twenty minutes to go, Hector Barbera was the first rider to make progress on slicks, knocking almost two seconds off Marquez’s benchmark time, and the Spaniard’s improvement triggered a flurry of activity.
The men finding most grip appeared to be the Espargaro brothers with Aleix and Pol trading fastest times, the younger sibling eventually lowering the target time to a 2:05.840. The family feud at the top of the leaderboard was ended by Cal Crutchlow, the Briton edging ahead five minutes from time, but the honours would go to Marquez thanks to a 2:04.835 on the Repsol Honda rider’s final lap of the day.
Iannone also enjoyed a brief spell on top before falling to third while Aleix Espargaro maintained fourth aboard the Suzuki. Andrea Dovizioso was fifth overall ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi with Pol Espargaro fading to seventh, just ahead of leading open rider Stefan Bradl and Pramac’s Yonny Hernandez.
Bradley Smith goes into tomorrow’s final practice session in possession of the last Q2 spot in tenth despite a crash late on but Jorge Lorenzo is exposed to the possibility of a wet FP3 after only managing eleventh. Should tomorrow morning bring more rain, the two-time champion is in danger of being forced to take part in Q1 for the first time.
2015 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas: FP2 Classification
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