Marc Marquez picked up where he lꦫeft off during a private COTA test in March by leading the MotoGP field during a slippery Friday morning practice session for t꧙he inaugural event in Austin, Texas.

The Repsol Honda rookie, third on his MotoGꦦP race debut in Qatar, led most of the 45-minute session, finishingꦿ with an advantage of just 0.253s over world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

However lap times were over five-seconds slowe🙈r than the best set atꦬ the March test.

"It feels like the first day when we were here for testing, the track has very little grip, so this morning I was just fin✅din𓂃g my rhythm and learning the lines again!" confirmed Marquez. "There's not much more to say! The times were slow but I think this afternoon's free practice will be better."

Marquez's teඣam-mate Dani Pedrosa was third fastest, but some 1.6s behind the reigning Moto2 champion.

"It ღwas very difficult to try any settings on the bike as the track conditions were not very good, there is no grip," echoed Pedrosa. "Also, it's quite windy so on the straights the wind is cooling the tyres quite a lot. I hope that the conditions will improve this afternoon with some more sun and bikes on track"