GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 started its Americas Grand Prix campaign on Friday in Austin, with rookie Augusto Fernandez hitting the American rodeo for the first time on a MotoGP™ machine, and Jonas Folger officially stepping in for the team until injured Pol Espargaro is ready to get back to racing. While the sky threatened all day the paddock, the MotoGP™ class somehow went through the two practices with a dry track.

New experience with a new machine! Friday was about learning, adapting and analyzing for MotoGP™ rookie Augusto Fernandez who got his first taste of the horsepower rodeo on Friday. The layout being significantly more physically demanding on a MotoGP™ machine, the Spaniard trained hard the past week to arrive in Texas in the best shape possible. In the morning, he was amongst the riders who completed the most laps, and he rode in 2’05.732. In the afternoon session, despite suffering a crash, he made good progress and improved his lap time to 2’04.561, which placed him twenty-first in the combined standings.

German Jonas Folger officially started his substitute duties in Austin, as he joined back the Tech3 crew, his old team from his first season in the MotoGP™ class back in 2017. His main goal was to adapt to both the GASGAS RC16 and the track, and make adjustments that will suit both himself and his riding style. His personal best of the day was in 2’06.529, and he will continue to work hard on Saturday in order to be ready as much as possible for his first MotoGP™ race in just six years.