The first consideration after the Friday that kicked off the race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas inevitably has to do with the dangerous conditions of the track. After heavy rainfall during the night, the riders tackled a wet, and therefore not very indicative FP1 session, also considering the fact that there were no races on this track last year, which demands some adapting.
The bumps on the Texan asphalt were an issue straight away, making life anything but simple for techs and riders, even for the FP2 session which was held on dry asphalt. Aleix, the only Aprilia standard-bearer this weekend, struggled to find the right feeling, spending a lot of time working on a setup that would at least partially mitigate the effects of the bumps. Toward the end of the session, just as his times were improving, Espargaró also fell victim to a crash. With no physical problems for him, the rider was forced to settle for nineteenth place in the end.
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