After reading what the Repsol Honda and Yamaha Factory team riders had to say following yesterday’s first day of practice at the stunning Circuit of the Americas, you can catch up on what some of the others riders had to say after a difficult first day, with the most common lament, the lack of grip.
This afternoon we’ll find out which of these riders will be in QP2.
Stefan Bradl – 3rd“Today has been a strange day for us.
This morning the track conditions were pretty bad and the grip level was very poor so we could not use our advantage from the test.
At the end of this morning first session, I was very disappointed but, in the afternoon, the grip was much better and the sun was shining so I could ride a lot faster keeping the top positions.
We could use the data and the references obtained in the test but we still have to adjust the race set-up especially when we are on used tyres”.
Cal Crutchlow – 6th“Firstly I want to say a huge thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, management and staff at Yamaha and Dorna and COTA officials for helping us get out on track today.
The fire in the garage on Wednesday night wasn’t the ideal start to the weekend but my crew have worked non-stop to get everything ready for today and I am proud to work with them.
Today was always going to be difficult because this track is really technical, difficult to learn, and you need time to be able to learn all the secrets to go fast.
So to be sixth fastest and make such big progress is pleasing.
We expected the gap to the front to be quite big and honestly I thought I’d be a little bit further away.
I got held up a few times on my good laps too so I’m sure I could have gone a bit faster.
This track is amazing with so many different challenges from hard braking, fast straights and lots of changes of direction.
We still have a lot of work to do and it will be difficult to be near the front in the race.
I need to improve in the braking area.
We need to calm the bike down but to be the best of those that didn’t test here is all I can really ask for.
” Andrea Dovizioso – 7th “Today went pretty well, both in the morning and the afternoon.
I’m happy because although the conditions and the track were both difficult, we’re not so far from the top guys, and I feel good on the bike.
The conditions changed a lot in the second session and will probably change again tomorrow, so we’ll continue working and see what times we can do.
Grip is really important on this circuit, because it’s quite strange?different from the tracks where we usually race.
I thought it would be fast, but it’s not; there’s a long straightaway, but almost all of the corners are taken in second or third gear.
Still, they’ve really done a great job here.
”Alvaro Bautista – 8th“We spent today almost entirely on learning the track.
There wasn’t much grip and it was so difficult to keep the bike upright it was like riding in the wet.
In the afternoon the conditions improved and the lap times dropped notably.
The track is special, technical with blind corners and a lot of direction changes that make it difficult because if you get one corner wrong it is very hard to recover.
I still need to find some references and we need to work on the setting because this track is quite different to the others.
Obviously the riders who have been here to Austin before are in a better position than us but we’re not far off them.
We have improved our pace from the morning to the afternoon and that gives me optimism for tomorrow.
”Nicky Hayden – 9th “It was great to get out and try the track on a MotoGP bike, as it’s really a first-class circuit and facility.
This morning the biggest challenge was the lack of grip; on a new track with not much temperature, the tyres were simply too hard, though the conditions were better in the afternoon.
We had a few problems with the rear, and when we made that better, that put too much load on the front.
We knew it was going to be tough, since the other manufacturers tested here and have a lot of data.
We’ve got some catching up to do, but I certainly hope to get closer tomorrow.
”Ben Spies – 10th“It was a good day.
We changed the bike quite a bit in the second session, and I got the feel of it and closed the gap to the factory Ducatis.
I got some laps in, and now we’ve got some good data to look at.
We’ll try to take another couple of steps for tomorrow if the track gets better, and just keep closing the gap to the front guys.
” Aleix Espargaró – 11th “The first impression of the new track was a bit weird to be honest and it felt like the bike was unstable on the corners, but as the day went on more rubber was laid down and the temperature increased, giving us more grip for the second session.
I think we did a good job overall on setting up the bike today.
Even though we had a problem with our first bike in the second session it’s been a good day’s work.
The second bike rode well.
This is an incredibly long track and one of the most technical on the calendar.
There are some tight linking corners where you lose a lot of time if you lose you line.
I think the circuit is great though and I really enjoyed it so I think we can do well this weekend.
We were the fastest CRT team today and I hope we can stay on top tomorrow.
”Bradley Smith – 13th“It was great to finally be on track today and get a first taste of what is an amazing track but incredibly difficult to learn.
After the fire in the garage on Wednesday night my crew and even my old team from Moto2 have been working flat-out to make sure we were ready.
So just being on track felt like a big achievement today.
This morning was very difficult because I have never ridden with such little grip, and that doesn’t help you learn the track.
Going into this afternoon where we did have grip, it took me a while to actually adapt to the track.
We improved the bike and I felt much more comfortable at the end and we have a direction to follow for tomorrow morning.
What is critical is being able to put the bike where you want and at the moment I am struggling in that area.
You have to be so specific here but I am happy to be four seconds faster this afternoon.
That’s good progress but I need to make the next step.
I know my weak points and I will be ready to make the improvements.
” Randy De Puniet – 14th “There was no grip this morning and we shredded the tyres in a few laps.
We took some time to find our way around this superb track which is technically very challenging.
With the corners flowing into each other if you come out wrong you screw up the next turn and you lose time.
In the afternoon we made some good setting changes and I felt really smooth so we used the same tyre most of the time.
On the 18th corner, which you usually slide on, right at the end of the session, I lost the rear end and then it regained grip and the bike threw me off.
It was a shame as I missed out on the chance to improve my time at the end.
”Andrea Iannone – 15th“Today was quite difficult.
I had trouble finding the right feeling with the bike, and I don’t have the confidence to push hard.
I feel the bike sliding, and I feel hesitant.
Anyway, I’m optimistic for tomorrow, which will be very important for us.
Despite everything, I like the entire track and I hope to get closer to the other Ducati riders, as I’ve always managed to do before.
”Claudio Corti – 17th“This first day when ok, we have improved a lot during the second practice session but we still have to keep working on the electronics, specially in terms of the acceleration.
All an all, we are working really well, would still like to be a bit faster but I took some time during the session because we needed to test the front tires and ended up not being the right choice.
We need to work on keeping a good pace and make the bike a little easier to ride but for being on a new track for first time I think we are doing good so far.
”Danilo Petrucci – 19th “This morning there were not enough safety conditions to ride, and this afternoon the situation has definitely changed and I could improve my lap times.
Despite this, however, I know that we must still a lot of work especially on chassis and electronics that is not yet at his best.
Tomorrow we will try to do better but my bike is still a bit too “grumpy” in the hairpins and here there are seven of them.
”Lukas Pesek – 21st“In the first round I really struggled.
We were not competitive at all, but in the afternoon we worked on the chassis and suspension, and in the end I managed to drop my lap times by more than six seconds, incredible! We still need to do to improve experience and tomorrow’s sessions will help us.
”Bryan Staring – 22nd “Once again everything is new to me and this track in particular is making life even harder for us.
It is a difficult track to learn and this morning we had some major grip issues that prevented me from getting comfortable.
I had a long chat with the team after the session which has been really helpful and I am convinced we can make big progress tomorrow.
”Colin Edwards – 23rd“Its obviously new track.
The first session was a little sketchy; I think we had 20 degree centigrade on the ground.
This morning just getting along the track we got some ideas and in the second practice, instead of holding station with the setting we knew kind of works we decided to soften the rear, make some changes for the problems we were having with cold temperature while obviously it was 40 when we went back out there for the second session.
We just started off wrong and tried to use the rest of the session to go back to where we were.
The good news is we got more laps in and got to know the track a better.
We need to go over the data and make it better for tomorrow.
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