Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi knew that the Hondas, especially Marc Marquez would be fast at the Circuit of the Americas, following the March test, but they probably didn’t expect to be losing more than 1.
6 and 1.
8 seconds compared to the the rookie and and almost six tenths of second to Stefan Bradl, especially after the grip improved during the afternoon session and despite the fact that Marquez was still two seconds slower than his best lap during testing.
Unless the Yamaha duo finds something to stop the Honda domination they will be riding on the defensive on Sunday, trying to gain as many points as possible, waiting for a more Yamaha friendly track.
“In the morning we were competitive compared to our rivals but this afternoon when the track improved they had a better feeling and a better confidence to improve much more than us.
We were unable to make profit from the improved track conditions.
We need to improve the bike to gain some seconds.
The track was better for everyone but for the moment it gives our rivals more confidence to go faster.
We are better but still not enough,” said Lorenzo who finished 4th.
“The practices are not so bad because we improved a lot compared to this morning and we could stay close to Jorge.
Unfortunately the Hondas are very fast which we already knew from the test.
We hope to make it better this weekend but especially Marquez is very fast and also Pedrosa and Bradl are faster than us so we have to work and try to improve for tomorrow,” commented Rossi.