MotoGP Americas GP: Martin smashes lap record in FP2

Lap times improved dramatically in the hour-long afternoon session compared to FP1 earlier today, with Martin blasting the lap record set by Francesco Bagnaia last year of 2m01.892s with a 2m01.397s.

The Pramac rider, who leads the standings by 18 points, beat FP1 pacesetter Maverick Vinales on the factory Aprilia by 0.076 seconds.

Seven-time COTA race winner Marc Marquez was third with a late 2m01.806s on his year-old Gresini Ducati, as Bagnaia lifted himself into Q2 safety late on in fourth.

Martin set the initial pace in second practice with a 2m04.429s, which was instantly beaten by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini with a 2m04.208s.

Pedro Acosta followed this up with a 2m03.578s on his Tech3 GasGas, before Martin edged clear seconds later with a 2m03.036s inside the first 10 minutes of the session.

This would stand as the benchmark for the next 20 minutes until Vinales, his Aprilia fitted with a new soft rear tyre, fired in a 2m02.983s.

Martin followed close behind, though, and re-established himself at the top of the timesheets with a 2m02.888s.

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Another 15 minutes passed before Vinales once again took top spot away from Martin with a 2m02.394s, which was followed up by a 2m02.244s from VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio.

But Martin was blowing up the timing screens behind this duo and flashed across the start/finish line with just under 13 minutes remaining with a new lap record of 2m01.397s.

Vinales was the only rider to put this time under threat on his final time attack lap but came up 0.076s short with a 2m01.473s.

Marc Marquez completed the top three with a final lap of 2m01.806s, while Bagnaia ended the session fourth having sat outside of the Q2 places in 12th as second practice entered its closing moments.

Acosta completed the top five and is the only KTM rider inside the Q2 places at the moment, with factory counterpart Brad Binder the next-best RC16 in 14th – 0.585s adrift of the 19-year-old rookie.

Aleix Espargaro was sixth on the sister factory team Aprilia, as Franco Morbidelli bagged his first Q2 appearance as a Pramac Ducati rider.

Bastianini, Di Giannantonio and his VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the top 10.

Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez narrowly missed Q2 places for home team Trackhouse Racing’s first Americas GP, while Fabio Quartararo was the leading rider for a Japanese brand in 17th on his Yamaha.

A crash for Joan Mir at the end of the session left him in 20th, with LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco the leading HRC representative in 19th.

MotoGP Americas GP Practice 2 Results

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	20	2'01.397		163.486
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	20	+0.076 2'01.473	0.076	163.384
3	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	18	+0.409 2'01.806	0.333	162.937
4	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	19	+0.411 2'01.808	0.002	162.935
5	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	19	+0.569 2'01.966	0.158	162.724
6	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	17	+0.627 2'02.024	0.058	162.646
7	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	19	+0.706 2'02.103	0.079	162.541
8	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	18	+0.747 2'02.144	0.041	162.486
9	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	17	+0.847 2'02.244	0.100	162.353
10	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	21	+0.961 2'02.358	0.114	162.202
11	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	18	+1.069 2'02.466	0.108	162.059
12	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	18	+1.079 2'02.476	0.010	162.046
13	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	20	+1.096 2'02.493	0.017	162.023
14	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	18	+1.154 2'02.551	0.058	161.947
15	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	18	+1.156 2'02.553	0.002	161.944
16	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	19	+1.405 2'02.802	0.249	161.616
17	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	20	+1.442 2'02.839	0.037	161.567
18	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	17	+1.478 2'02.875	0.036	161.520
19	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	19	+1.617 2'03.014	0.139	161.337
20	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	17	+2.047 2'03.444	0.430	160.775
21	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	20	+2.124 2'03.521	0.077	160.675
22	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	20	+2.587 2'03.984	0.463	160.075
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