After a strong thunderstorm that forced the Race Direction to cancel the FP3, the sun shone again on the Circuit of the Americas and together with a strong wind allowed the riders to go back on track for the qualifying session in dry conditions. Jack finished with a great fourth place that will allow him to start tomorrow from the second row while Pecco, qualified directly to Q2 after the precious P10 on Friday, was not able to find the right feeling with the bike and, due to two slight crashes, had to settle for 12th position.
FP4 (Conditions: wet/dry – Air 20° – Ground 28°)
P9 Jack Miller (2’08.894, +3.416 from P1)
The still wet circuit did not allow the riders to take advantage of the FP4 to work profitably on race pace. Jack returns to the track in the middle of the session with the soft used tires but the final gaps is not indicative.
P13 Pecco Bagnaia (2’09.559, +4.081 from P1)
Only two laps on rain tyres for Pecco who then returns to the track with slicks completing another 5 laps.
Q2 (Conditions: dry/strong wind – Air 21° – Ground 31°)
P4 Jack Miller (2’04.416, +0.629 from P1)
Jack pushes hard immediately and after the first run is in third position. In the second run the Australian rider didn’t manage to take a step forward to defend the front row, however, gaining an excellent fourth place.
P12 Pecco Bagnaia (2’05.887, +2.100 from P1)
In the first Q2 in MotoGP Pecco cannot find the ideal conditions to be effective as the feeling with the bike does not seem to be that of Friday. Two small crashes in the first and second run did not allow him to attempt a time attack.
P12 – Pecco Bagnaia
“I honestly can’t explain the two crashes. All I know is that they were identical and that is why we need to see the data to understand what happened. The feeling was not the same as on Friday. I am still confident because this problem only occurs in two corners and in the rest of the circuit I feel very fast. I just hope that tomorrow there will be no strong wind”.
P4 – Jack Miller
“The wind during the Q2 was really strong and it was very difficult to make the perfect lap. All things considered we did a very positive qualifying and that’s why I’m satisfied. Tomorrow it won’t be easy to choose the tyres because we had not the possibility to make enough laps today. We are starting from a good position and there is a lot of confidence”.