Is there any doubt? Pedro Acosta continues to amaze in MotoGP, and today in FP2 in Austin he showed once again that he really should shake up the World Championship, and there are few adjectives to describe the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rookie, as he took the lead in the final minutes of the session.
Everything was in place for the last session before the start of qualifying in Austin, with the sun shining in America, 21st was the temperature, while on the track it was 27th.
After the first few laps and with many riders still not having left their team’s garage, Marc Márquez was leading the session with a lap of 2:02.809s, ahead of two Aprilia riders, Raúl Fernández – from the home team, Trackhouse Racing – while Maverick Viñales was third. Jack Miller was fourth and Pecco Bagnaia fifth.
Shortly afterwards and with five laps completed, Viñales was the new leader of the session, 0.051s ahead of Jorge Martín, with M. Márquez third and Marco Bezzecchi fourth. Bagnaia rounded off the top five. Jack Miller in sixth was the best KTM on track, ahead of the home duo headed by Fernández, with the latter 0.068s ahead of Oliveira. Pedro Acosta was eighth and Enea Bastinini rounded off the top ten with 18 minutes to go.
Yamaha was unsurprisingly struggling, with Álex Rins in 12th, the winner of this GP last year, while Honda’s Joan Mir was their best, in 18th.
With 15 minutes to go until the end of the session, most of the riders were in their teams’ garages, with Bezzecchi, Brad Binder, Álex Márquez and Johann Zarco the exceptions.
And it was precisely the youngest of the Márquez clan who moved up in the session to second place, 0.049s behind leader Viñales, who admitted to some difficulties yesterday and asked for advice… from his brother.
Six minutes from the end there were further changes, with Acosta jumping to the top of the timesheet and shortly afterwards former world champion Marc Márquez also climbing to second place.
Things are beginning to ramp up as we approach the last five minutes! 😎@37_pedroacosta takes over at the top now! 📈@marcmarquez93 slots in just behind 👊#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/lIlaaZQ4R3
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 13, 2024
Just before the end, Bagnaia managed his best lap to finish second fastest in the session, 0.171s behind Acosta, with Marc Márquez third fastest.