Jorge Martin 6th in the wet on day one at Austin, Juanfran Guevara 15th

The second round of the 2015 season got underway on Friday with the first free practice sessions for the GP of the Americas.

After a slight delay in the morning the Moto3 riders took to the track in wet conditions, which prevailed through to the afternoon’s second session even though the rain eventually abated.

The lap times were slow as a result, with the riders taking two and a half minutes to complete a full circulation, Danny Kent and Andrea Locatelli having the better of much of the session only to miss out on the best time of the day to Alexis Masbou.

Jorge Martín is contesting only his second Grand Prix but after visiting this circuit in the Rookies Cup two years ago he put his knowledge to good use today.

The Spanish youngster, who scored a point on his debut in Qatar two weeks ago, gave an indication of his prowess in these conditions during preseason and today he proved to be the fastest rookie on track, sixth fastest overall, after improving his best lap by five seconds from the first to the second session.

His team-mates Juanfran Guevara and Pecco Bagnaia made similar improvements although they were more cautious in the tricky conditions as they clocked the 15th and 20th fastest times respectively.

6th Jorge Martín 2.30.379 (26 laps):
“I don’t know why but once again it seems like I quite like it in the wet. On the very last lap of the day the track dried up a little and even though the tyres were pretty worn I was able to push hard and enjoy myself. I think I am quite a smooth rider and that means I can open the gas when I want and get the bike turned with confidence. Even though today was wet we completed a lot of laps so that I could learn the circuit and get a feeling. I had some problems under acceleration in the first session, but the team helped me to work that out. I like the circuit and I am sure it will be good for us in the dry too. Even so, when the track was at its wettest it was difficult to ride and you couldn’t brake hard. In general I am happy with the feeling on this first day, we did a good job that we were able to confirm at the end of the session with a good lap.”

15th Juanfran Guevara 2.32.051 (22 laps):
“We have had quite a tough day. In the first session the track was quite slippery and then there were a lot of crashes at the start of the second session. We have worked hard all day and found a good setting for the bike and I am happy with the progress we made from the first session to the second. This afternoon we worked mainly with the suspension and in the end the feedback was really good. We are pretty clear about our wet setting now and we know which way to go with it tomorrow if the conditions are the same, although I would prefer them to improve.”

Source: Aspar Media