COTA specialist Marc Marquez tops FP1 ahead of Jack Miller

Six-time MotoGP race winner at COTA (Circuit of the Americas), Marc Marquez, dominates a wet/dry opening FP1 session, while championship leader Fabio Quartararo finishes 15th fastest. 
Marc Marquez, San Marino MotoGP, 18 September 2021
Marc Marquez, San Marino MotoGP, 18 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

Six-time MotoGP race winner around COTA, Marc Marquez, once again looks like the man to beat after dominating a wet/dry FP1. 

The sketchy conditions were not too dissimilar to that of Friday at Misano two weeks ago - conditions that Marquez was again very strong in.  

The Repsol Honda rider got as far as two seconds clear of team-mate Pol Espargaro early on, before Johann Zarco reduced that margin to 1.3 seconds. 

It wasn’t until 25 minutes to go that Marquez lost top spot as Miller went quicker by two tenths of a second. 

A dry line then started to appear with just over 15 minutes to go, however, it remained too wet for slick tyres to come out. 

While time attacks can’t exactly describe the final few minutes, as the improved lap times that began coming in were simply an evolution of the grip out on track, Marquez, who changed from soft wets to mediums significantly improved to go top by eight tenths.

Miller did respond by getting within two tenths of the eight-time world champion, but was unable to better the Spaniard in the end. 

There was a much needed return to form for Miguel Oliveira after a few tough rounds in Austria, Silverstone, Aragon and Misano. The KTM rider finished fourth.

Splitting Miller and Oliveira in third was Zarco who recently underwent arm pump surgery. 

The French rider’s title bid has evaporated in recent races, however, the Pramac rider could be set for a good weekend based on his pace in FP1. 

Fifth was Marquez’ team-mate Espargaro, while brother Alex Marquez moved up to sixth as the chequered flag came out. 

On the other side of the LCR Honda garage, Takaaki Nakagami suffered a late fall at turn 15, which was the only crash of the session. 

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