The Aragon Grand Prix weekend couldn’t have started better for Marc Marquez. The Gresini Racing rider was the fastest in both Friday sessions, something he hadn’t achieved since the 2021 Grand Prix of the Americas. All this while consistently giving the impression of being the one with the best pace of all.
For the eight-time world champion, it was probably the best day since he switched to riding a Ducati, as confirmed by the new record for the Spanish ups and downs, which he set with a time of 1’45″801, making him the first and so far the only one to have broken the 1’46” barrier on the Spanish ups and downs, on which he has an enviable palmares.
But this is also confirmed by the gaps he has placed on his competition, which surprisingly is led by the two Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, who therefore seem to have made a very decisive step forward compared to the difficulties they encountered in this morning’s session. Indeed, probably without a mistake in the last sector Vinales could have even come very close to Marquez’s performance.
For the moment, the two main contenders for the title, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, seem to be in more difficulty. The Prima Pramac Racing rider from Madrid finished with the fourth fastest time, but just under six tenths behind. The reigning world champion instead chased the right setup until a few moments before the time attack and then placed sixth at 790 thousandths, although it must be said that his best lap was cancelled due to a yellow flag.
The other GP23 of Gresini Racing with Alex Marquez also slipped in between the two GP24s. Continuing down the standings, in seventh place is Franco Morbidelli with the GP24 of Prima Pramac Racing, while the big surprise of the session is Johann Zarco. With an unexpected eighth time, the Team LCR rider managed to give Honda its first entry into Q2 this season. And his performance is truly amazing if you consider that Luca Marini and Joan Mir are only in 17th and 21st position with the two RC213V of the official team.
The last two slots for Q2 were taken by the Aprilias of Trackhouse Racing, with Raul Fernandez who settled in ninth position ahead of his teammate Miguel Oliveira, but in their case we are already talking about gaps greater than a second. In any case, it was a Friday to frame for the Noale manufacturer, which already has the certainty of having placed its entire contingent in the first four rows of the grid.
After shining this morning, therefore, the KTMs will all be forced to go through Q1, with Brad Binder who was fooled by 29 thousandths in 11th position and is followed by Pedro Acosta. Much further back instead Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez, both of whom crashed at turn 16.
The Australian’s fall cost Enea Bastianini access to Q2, who had set a top 10 time, but saw it cancelled due to the yellow flags. In the end, “Beast” found himself 15th, behind the two GP23s of Pertamina Enduro VR46 of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who is gritting his teeth due to an injury to his left shoulder, and Marco Bezzecchi.
Finally, a very complicated session for Yamaha, who with the new features tested in the Misano tests seems to have even taken a step backwards: Alex Rins is 19th at 1″5, closely followed by Fabio Quartararo, who also suffered a slide at turn 5 in the first phase of the session.
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