MotoGP Americas GP: Vinales tops opening practice from Martin, Acosta

MotoGP returns from a three-week break since the Portuguese GP at the end of March after the Argentina round was cancelled due to a lack of government funding.

Aptly, the Circuit of the Americas is also the first round to be staged since it was announced that US media giant Liberty had acquired Dorna Sports in a deal worth €4.2 billion.

COTA has been partially resurfaced since MotoGP's last visit to Texas, though lap times were over two seconds off the all-time record of 2m01.892s set by Francesco Bagnaia in 20213.

Vinales set the initial pace in the session at a 2m07.601s, before working that down to a 2m03.294s by way of a final time attack in the closing stages on fresh medium Michelin rubber.

This would be enough to keep Vinales, who revealed the gearbox issue which ruled him out of the Portuguese GP was a human error, top of the order by 0.149 seconds when the chequered flag came out, with championship leader Martin trailing him on the Pramac Ducati.

Tech3 GasGas rookie sensation Pedro Acosta completed the top three having scored a maiden podium last time out in Portugal, while seven-time COTA winner Marc Marquez was eighth on the Gresini Ducati.

As the field felt its way around the partially resurfaced COTA in the opening moments of FP1, lap times were far from representative as the likes of Vinales, Acosta, Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez took turns leading the times.

At the halfway mark, eight-time world champion Marquez sat atop the standings with a 2m04.499s, before Martin took over with a 2m04.297s with 17 minutes to go.

Five minutes later KTM's Jack Miller guided his RC16 to a 2m04.210s, before KTM stablemate Acosta produced a 2m03.802s on a new medium rear tyre.

Acosta wouldn't see out the session as the fastest rider, though, as Vinales – also on fresh rubber – found a 2m03.294s with a couple of minutes left on the clock to secure top spot.

Martin put a bit of pressure of Vinales' time on his final flying lap, having also gone for fresh tyres, but came up 0.149s short as the Pramac rider slotted in between the factory Aprilia and Tech3's Acosta.

Enea Bastianini, winner at COTA in 2022, was fourth on the factory team Ducati from VR46's Bezzecchi and KTM's Brad Binder.

Franco Morbidelli enjoyed a strong morning on the sister Pramac Ducati in seventh, with Marc Marquez eight having elected against a switch to new rubber late on in the session.

Miller and VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top 10, with Bagnaia 11th having run the same tyres all session.

Last year's Americas GP winner Alex Rins was the top Yamaha in 13th, 0.033s ahead of team-mate Fabio Quartararo, who comes to America with a fresh two-year contract with the Japanese brand in his back pocket.

Luca Marini led the Honda charge in 15th from team-mate Joan Mir, while a crash for Gresini's Alex Marquez left him 20th.

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	17	2'03.294		160.971
2	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	17	+0.149 2'03.443	0.149	160.777
3	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	16	+0.312 2'03.606	0.163	160.565
4	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	16	+0.406 2'03.700	0.094	160.443
5	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	16	+0.518 2'03.812	0.112	160.297
6	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	18	+0.571 2'03.865	0.053	160.229
7	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	17	+0.610 2'03.904	0.039	160.178
8	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	16	+0.709 2'04.003	0.099	160.050
9	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	17	+0.916 2'04.210	0.207	159.784
10	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	14	+0.932 2'04.226	0.016	159.763
11	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	17	+0.948 2'04.242	0.016	159.743
12	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	16	+0.978 2'04.272	0.030	159.704
13	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	17	+1.011 2'04.305	0.033	159.662
14	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	17	+1.017 2'04.311	0.006	159.654
15	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	16	+1.108 2'04.402	0.091	159.537
16	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	15	+1.141 2'04.435	0.033	159.495
17	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	17	+1.220 2'04.514	0.079	159.394
18	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	15	+1.265 2'04.559	0.045	159.336
19	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	15	+1.519 2'04.813	0.254	159.012
20	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	16	+1.563 2'04.857	0.044	158.956
21	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	15	+2.051 2'05.345	0.488	158.337
22	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	16	+2.078 2'05.372	0.027	158.303
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