It will be an uphill race for Aleix Espargaró and his RS-GP tomorrow on the Circuit of the Americas. A series of unfortunate circumstances kept the Spanish rider from participating in the Q1 session where, after his promising performance in the first two races of the season, he was looking forward to tackling with the ambition of going through to Q2.

Instead, a technical problem stopped him right in the final stages of the last free practice session (FP4), where he finished in twelfth place with a minimum gap behind the top ranking spots. The diagnostics system switched off the engine and the team is currently investigating the cause of the fault, probably a simple problem, but enough to stop number 41's RS-GP just a few minutes before of the decisive session. On his second bike, Aleix crashed during his first good lap, a fall without consequences for the rider, but one that denied him taking even one lap, relegating him to the last spot on the starting grid for tomorrow.

Sam Lowes finished with a time of 2’07.232 that earned him the twentieth spot and the seventh row on the starting grid.