Lap instances improved dramatically within the hour-long afternoon session in comparison with FP1 earlier in the present day, with Martin blasting the lap report set by Francesco Bagnaia final yr of 2m01.892s with a 2m01.397s.
The Pramac rider, who leads the standings by 18 factors, beat FP1 pacesetter Maverick Vinales on the manufacturing unit Aprilia by 0.076 seconds.
Seven-time COTA race winner Marc Marquez was third with a late 2m01.806s on his year-old Gresini Ducati, as Bagnaia lifted himself into Q2 security late on in fourth.
Martin set the preliminary tempo in second observe with a 2m04.429s, which was immediately crushed by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini with a 2m04.208s.
Pedro Acosta adopted this up with a 2m03.578s on his Tech3 GasGas, earlier than Martin edged clear seconds later with a 2m03.036s inside the primary 10 minutes of the session.
This may stand because the benchmark for the subsequent 20 minutes till Vinales, his Aprilia fitted with a brand new delicate rear tyre, fired in a 2m02.983s.
Martin adopted shut behind, although, and re-established himself on the high of the timesheets with a 2m02.888s.
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Workforce
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
One other quarter-hour handed earlier than Vinales as soon as once more took high spot away from Martin with a 2m02.394s, which was adopted up by a 2m02.244s from VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio.
However Martin was blowing up the timing screens behind this duo and flashed throughout the beginning/end line with slightly below 13 minutes remaining with a brand new lap report of 2m01.397s.
Vinales was the one rider to place this time below risk on his last time assault lap however got here up 0.076s brief with a 2m01.473s.
Marc Marquez accomplished the highest three with a last lap of 2m01.806s, whereas Bagnaia ended the session fourth having sat outdoors of the Q2 locations in twelfth as second observe entered its closing moments.
Acosta accomplished the highest 5 and is the one KTM rider contained in the Q2 locations for the time being, with manufacturing unit counterpart Brad Binder the next-best RC16 in 14th – 0.585s adrift of the 19-year-old rookie.
Aleix Espargaro was sixth on the sister manufacturing unit staff Aprilia, as Franco Morbidelli bagged his first Q2 look as a Pramac Ducati rider.
Bastianini, Di Giannantonio and his VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the highest 10.
Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez narrowly missed Q2 locations for residence staff Trackhouse Racing’s first Americas GP, whereas Fabio Quartararo was the main rider for a Japanese model in seventeenth on his Yamaha.
A crash for Joan Mir on the finish of the session left him in twentieth, with LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco the main HRC consultant in nineteenth.
