Avintia Esponsorama and Sky VR46 Avintia had their first taste of the COTA circuit on Friday after the first two free practice sessions of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.
Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini finished 10th and 12th in the combined combined free practice times at the end of the first day. In the morning session and in wet conditions, both riders were able to get their first laps on the MotoGP bike and start to get confidence with the track.
In the afternoon, in dry conditions, Bastianini was 10th fastest with a time of 2:04.836, whilst Luca Marini set the 12th fastest time of the second free practice session after stopping the clock at 2:04.933.
Tomorrow at 16:55 (GMT+2) Bastianini and Marini will be back on track for the third free practice and then the fourth free practice and the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas qualifying.
“It was an interesting first day. The asphalt is very bumpy and it wasn’t easy. The morning was wet and I tried to start to get some confidence. FP2 was completely dry, but I had some pain in my back caused by the crash I had in the Misano test, and I didn’t feel 100%. Anyway, we had a good lap. In the fast corners I feel good, but in the slow ones I still suffer a little bit. We have all day tomorrow to work and we will try to make a step forward.”
“A good and positive day. We were able to run in both conditions and I was fast in all sessions. It was a difficult situation to manage, especially with the many bumps in the track. Probably one of the most complicated things I’ve ever had to deal with riding a MotoGP bike, which is a shame because the track is very nice. I don’t think they can do anything between now and tomorrow, so all we have to do is work on the bike to make sure we can push as hard as we can and not make any mistakes. We will definitely talk with the other riders in the Safety Commission because this is close to be dangerous. Overall, the feeling on the bike is good, most of the work we did at the Misano test has worked on this track and hopefully the weather will be good for qualifying.”
