MotoGP Austin: Rins tops Top Gun in COTA FP1

Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins returned to his 2019 dominance at the Circuit of the Americas as Friday practice fired up in Austin.

The Spaniard’s 2’04.007 culminated a rapid succession of flying laps for the GSX-RR rider around the newly resurfaced 5.5km layout with Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales and Ducati’s Jack Miller the closet challengers in the opening 45-minute session.

The premier class action kicked off in the United States with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez back in the mix after his Indonesian highside and the return of his double vision issues. Miller headed the times from a double Suzuki assault of Rins and Joan Mir with Pol Espargaro crashing out at turn 18 on the second Repsol RC213V.

A flurry of times shuffled the standings in the early stages with defending champion Fabio Quartararo demoting Alex Marquez to second and Johann Zarco to third before the LCR Honda man hit back with a 2’05.701. Miller and Mir bettering Franky Morbidelli as the action continued with recent winner Aleix Espargaro dropping the Yamaha rider to the edge of the top five moments later.

Quartararo was back in charge after just ten minutes of action from the longer Marquez brother. The multi-manufacturer battle continuing as Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Aprilia all staked their clams on the top ten. Only KTM were missing from the party as the Red Bull Factory team seemed to struggle from 18th and 21st, rookie Tech3 riders Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner bettering their more experienced cohorts in 15th and 16th.

Marquez returned to his usual COTA form as he led the times with a 2’04.469 lap and half an hour left to run. Rins and Quartararo heading Viñales in the top four as the former teammates circulated just one-tenth apart. The pair