If this morning’s third free practice session of the Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix was just the appetizer, today will probably be a hunt for pole position not to be missed, because Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo really seem to be able to play on the wire. of thousandths on the Jerez de la Frontera track.
The Ducati rider responded to the great performance of yesterday’s world champion, down to 1’36 “782, the best time in both FP3 and in the cumulative classification. As mentioned, however, the Yamaha rival was not far behind. that to separate them at the checkered flag there are just 6 thousandths and these two actually seem to have a little more than the competition.
But be careful not to underestimate the Hondas, which this morning gave the feeling of having made an important step forward, especially with Marc Marquez, who climbed up to fourth place at 143 thousandths after yesterday’s difficult day. However, the best of the RC213V was the one with the LCR colors entrusted to the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami, who precedes him in third position at 117 thousandths.
The performance of the two Aprilia was also very good, both of which will be in Q2 this afternoon. The best was again that of Maverick Vinales, fifth at 193 thousandths, who this weekend also wears a celebratory helmet dedicated to the character of the film “Top gun” from which it takes its name. But also Aleix Espargaro did well, sixth at 277 thousandths with the other RS-GP, and probably the closest to the first two in terms of pace.
Among them also Enea Bastianini, who at least on the flying lap proved to be very competitive with his Gresini Racing Ducati GP21, paying just 194 thousandths. After yesterday’s crackling start, it was legitimate to expect a little more from the Suzuki, instead Joan Mir finds himself eighth, albeit only 278 thousandths behind. It went worse for team mate Alex Rins, who will be forced to pass from Q1, having finished 13th at 511 thousandths.
Between the two GSX-RRs we find a Ducati four of a kind that achieved very similar times. However, only two of these four Red drivers managed to remove the direct pass for Q2 and they are Jorge Martin and a Jack Miller so far a bit in the shade on a track that last year had seen him climb the highest step. top of the podium. Too bad for Marco Bezzecchi, out by just 77 thousandths. But even Johann Zarco is just over a tenth. The feeling is that they can, however, try to make up for it in Q1.
Very complicated session for the KTMs, who missed access to Q2. The best of the RC16s is in fact only in 14th position, even if it must be said that Brad Binder pays just half a second, proving how much the Andalusian track is able to level the performances. His teammate Miguel Oliveira, on the other hand, is 16th, behind a Franco Morbidelli who unfortunately continues to be unable to exploit Yamaha’s potential in the same way as Quartararo.
Also excluded is Pol Espargaro, 17th due to a crash at turn 13. The same point where Alex Marquez also ended up wheels in the air, who in the first minutes of the session had also accused a technical problem on his Honda and is found only 24 °. A little further on, in 21st position, is test driver Stefan Bradl, who also crashed at turn 6. In short, in view of FP4 there will be a lot of work for the mechanics of the Japanese manufacturer.
As for the other Italians, Luca Marini, Andrea Dovizioso and Fabio Di Giannantonio form an all-encompassing trio between 18th and 20th position, despite completing the picture of the riders enclosed in the space of a second. Still at the rear of the group was wild card Lorenzo Savadori, struggling with an experimental clutch on his Aprilia.
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