- 16th for Augusto Fernandez as the Spaniard starts from 19th on the grid. #37 rounds the long, bumpy and technical COTA layout for the first time in the premier class
- Jonas Folger adjusts back to MotoGP competition and uses valuable track time as personal ‘data collection’ for his 2023 role as test rider for the brand. The German ranked 20th
- Ryusei Yamanaka 7th fastest in Moto3™ as Jake Dixon makes the second row of the grid in Moto2™
Round three of 2023 MotoGP brought the world championship to COTA for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas. The 20-corner, drawn-out and challenging layout south of Austin was rippled and tricky to negotiate and complicated further by damp and then hot and sunny conditions.
Augusto Fernandez not only had to gather his bearings around the course but also chip away to find crucial tenths for the best slots on the grid and then attempt the 10-lap Sprint rush on Saturday afternoon. The reigning Moto2 World Champ managed 10th in Q1 for 19th on the grid and then banked momentum, feeling and confidence during the Sprint. He crossed the finish line in 16th. Jonas Folger made his first MotoGP outing in six years and his first Grand Prix run in five as the German jetted into Texas to replace the injured Pol Espargaro. Now immersed in a testing role for the factory, Jonas worked on getting to grips with the red RC16 and finding his place in the relentless heat of MotoGP competition. He ranked 20th and continued to build with every lap.
Lights out on the 20-lap Grand Prix happens at 21.00 CET on Sunday, 14.00 local time.
Augusto Fernandez, 19th in qualification, 16th in the Sprint: “It was a tough ten laps but we got experience and we used the Sprint as preparation for the race tomorrow. It has been a challenging weekend so far in terms of finding the feeling that I want on the bike. I’m missing something compared to the last races because this is a very hard track. I think we are making steps and I hope we can improve again tomorrow. I think our late race pace should be better.”
Jonas Folger, 22nd qualification, 20th in the Sprint: “The first race is done and it was very hard! The bike felt quite different in race conditions compared to practice and qualifying. We made a small change to the front suspension but with the hotter conditions it didn’t work out as we hoped. Overall, I expected more but we still need to work on small details, like the ergonomics. It is a process and it’s important we go through it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and thanks to the team for all the hard work and support.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “A solid race for Augusto who has been working hard to get in tune with the track. He’s had a few crashes and that’s prevented him from having a settled pace for the Sprint. He started quite far back but improved his lap-time, his overall pace and made some overtaking moves. It was a stronger performance and means we are quite positive for tomorrow. For Jonas he experienced his first Sprint and suffered a bit due to a lack of bike knowledge and track mileage. He is working more on getting comfortable, and we will make some adjustments for tomorrow to help him with that. We’ll go back to the pitbox, the computers, do our analysis and look for Sunday.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 2:01.892
2. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +0.160
3. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati +0.289
19. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 2:03.798 (Q1)
22. Jonas Folger (GER) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 2:07.597 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 20:35.270
2. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +2.545
3. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +4.706
16. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 +23.128
20. Jonas Folger (GER) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 +46.973
Moto3 and Moto2
David Alonso lunged into his first Moto3 attempt at COTA with lap-times that placed him on the fringe of the top ten during Friday’s P1 and P2 sessions. GASGAS Aspar Racing teammate Ryusei Yamanaka was not far away from the teenager and gathered up his speed. It was the Japanese who pulled further forward and filled a decent 7th place on the grid as the flag waved on Q2 during Saturday. Alonso is on the eighth row in 22nd and with the target on maximum points through the 18 laps on Sunday morning.
Jake Dixon’s positive feeling around the COTA curves was evident from the start of the chrono in Practice 1 on Friday. The Brit has shown podium speed in Texas during previous visits and quickly dialed-in the circuit on Friday with immediate Q2 potential at the top of the time sheets. During the key qualifying run, Jake snared 6th. Although still nursing a weak right wrist, reigning Moto3 World Champ Izan Guevara at last made his first laps in the Moto2 class. Riding without pressure and with the goal of building up his race fitness and experience, the Spaniard was 23rd fastest.
Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas MotoGP photographs can be found HERE
Results Qualifying Moto3 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda 2:16.250
2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna +0.101
3. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM +0.306
7. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN) GASGAS Aspar Team +1.080
22. David Alonso (ESP) GASGAS Aspar Team 2:18.178 (Q1)
Results Qualifying Moto2 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Celestino Vietti (ITA) 2:09.432
2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) +0.020
3. Filip Salac (CZE) +0.116
6. Jake Dixon (GBR) GASGAS Aspar Team +0.320
23. Izan Guevara (ESP) GASGAS Aspar Team 2:11.873 (Q1)
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