Marc Marquez fastest in Austin FP1, Dani Pedrosa battling pain

“It’s not easy when the track is slippery, as it was this morning, but I had the opportunity to make some difference as those conditions are one of my strong points. Of course it was only FP1, so we hope to be able to continue at this level. Anyway, the asphalt conditions improved little by little during the session, but unfortunately the bumps are still there, possibly worse than last year. This makes everything more difficult and trickier. We must work to understand where the best lines are and what the best rhythm is. We kept the same tyres for the entire session and so far I felt quite good.”

“Honestly, this first ‘test’ has been quite difficult. This is a tough track, and I’m struggling a lot doing almost everything here, especially in changes of direction and on braking. I tried to make a progressive run to see how I felt. The pain is what I expected, but I hoped to have more strength. We’ll see this afternoon in FP2 if the pain increases or not. If it stays the same, that will be a good sign that I’ll have some possibilities; if it gets any worse… things will be tougher. The condition of the asphalt doesn’t help, as there’s no grip and the surface is quite dusty. The work they did didn’t helped with the bumps, and it lowered the grip.”