Riders raise COTA safety concerns after crash-strewn…

Alex Marquez has called for improved safety measures at the Circuit of the Americas after a crash-strewn first day of track action on Friday at the United States GP.

The 29-year-old Spaniard's older brother Marc suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 10 in the morning session, escaping major injury but not pain. While that was the only fall of the morning session, afternoon Practice saw a spate of accidents during the early going.

"A few areas are really, really bumpy," said Alex, who was among those to fall in the afternoon. "It's quite difficult, especially where Mark crashed this morning. Also turn three, when you enter, and the last sector. So, you know, many points are quite bumpy, but much better than in past years, so it's not bad."

Alex echoed his brother's comments that more run-off was required at the tricky spot where Marc lost his factory Ducati.

"I crashed there in 2022, and I hit the wall, so, you know, we need to do something at that point. Because they have some space there to do a little bit more, you know.

"It's a corner that we don't have many crashes, but when the crashes happen, the speed is really high. And there's no air fence."

World championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was another rider to reference the recurring theme of bumps at COTA, but said it wasn't all bad.

"The track is for sure a little bit more bumpy compared to last year," said the Italian. "I think it's normal when we come here - every time [the annual Formula 1 race at the circuit creates] a few more bumps, so I expected this of course.

"But I have to say that the conditions today were very good because we found fantastic weather and the grip improved lap by lap, always more. So in the end it's a balance between a little bit more bumps, but very good conditions overall."

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

Honda rider Luca Marini was more than happy with conditions at COTA on Friday, when he joined the Marquez brothers and Bezzecchi in earning a direct ticket into Saturday's Q2.

"The track is fantastic; I don't understand why but it's much better than last year," said the man from Urbino. "This morning Moto2 was flying in FP1 so I said, 'OK the track is good, we can do a good lap.' And it was like this.

"I don't know what they did but it was working very well."

Marini did note the new surface in the braking area for Turn 12, the corner where Jorge Martin was caught out in Practice.

"It feels like the [asphalt] needs a bit more time, to have a little bit more holes between the stones. At the moment there is a lot of front lock in that part but [it is] under control."

The difficulties riders had in the early part of Practice may have been linked to a big jump in temperature as well as a dramatic difference between the medium and soft rear tyre compounds. But, that aside, the raw numbers coming in by the end of the session bore out the idea that the track is fast.

Marc Marquez's 2m00.927s lap in Practice was less than a tenth away from the circuit record, set by Maverick Viñales in 2024. With cooler conditions expected for an intense qualifying session on Saturday, that mark seems set to tumble.

In the morning free practice session, the top five times were all inside the best race lap on record, set by Marc Marquez in 2025.