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It's not a great surprise to see Marquez leading the way after first practice at Austin. Texas is his kingdom and no-one has yet managed to take his crown. But this time his rivals are closer, particularly Lorenzo.
It's too early to say whether Marc is beatable, but there is perhaps a small crack in his armour.
The tyres will clearly play a big part, because Michelin today only gave riders one rear tyre. The other, which is harder, is arriving but not before this evening. In the meantime, the soft tyre has caused some problems, wearing out on the right side.
The tyre pressure and dirty track surface appear to be causing the problem.
MARC MARQUEZ: ALL CLOSER COMPARED TO THE PAST - “I'm pleased how things are going for now, in acceleration I'm losing a little less compared to the past. As I expected, it will be a more difficult race this year, because we're all close”.
“The question mark is the rear tyre, which is practically destroyed on the right side. There could be various causes, one being that we need to put more rubber down on track. The second is that Michelin told us to use lower pressures, this ensures more grip but less durability. We'll wait and see what happens, tomorrow the harder tyres will arrive”.
“I've also tried the new wings that are larger . I've noticed the difference, now we have to analyse the data, to understand if they cause us to lose too much in terms of top speed”.
JORGE LORENZO, NEVER STARTED SO WELL - “I'm quite pleased with this first session because in the past I've struggled at this track, while today I think I've found good pace right from the outset. I'm feeling confident both in terms of braking and acceleration, and the track is not as dirty as it was last year. I 've started out a lot better, now we look ahead to this afternoon, to see if I can take another step forward”.
ANDREA IANNONE, SMALL ADJUSTMENTS FOR A BIG STEP FORWARD - “It was quite a positive session, I'm pleased because I've quickly understood where to improve. Nothing too serious, but if we can sort those points we can make an important step forward. In terms of tyres, I'd say they're ok but it's difficult to have a clear idea after only one session. The situation is better than Argentina, at the level of Qatar I'd say. The rear really wears out on the right but I think it's because the track is still dirty".
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO, MARQUEZ? ON THE LIMIT BUT UNDER CONTROL - “Times are still high but sensations are positive. With three front tyre options the quantity is low. I've used the one that caused vibration in Argentina and the same thing happened here. Also, on the right side the tyre is quickly destroyed, and on the last exit I risked crashing, because I was losing traction on entering the turns”.
“Marquez? He's impressive, I happened to follow him during my fast exit. This is a difficult track, that needs to be interpreted and Marc knows this. He's on the limit but you can see he has it under control. We'll get closer in the following sessions, but he definitely starts with an advantage”.
VALENTINO ROSSI, THE REAR TYRE IS THE PROBLEM - “I started the session quite well but then i had some problems with the rear tyre that started to move a lot. The second half of the session was quite difficult and I was unable to improve on my time. We still need to work on balancing the bike, so we'll focus on that this afternoon, trying a few things to improve my sensation”.
DANI PEDROSA: NOT THE RIGHT SETTING - “I tried a new set-up but it was no good. I have problems in acceleration, which counts for a lot here. The tyre is ok but is slides a bit at full throttle. I wasn't too worred about that because, not having the correct setting, I couldn't concentrate on the tyre”.
