After a couple of complicated Fridays, Pecco Bagnaia immediately started the Spanish Grand Prix weekend off on the right foot in Jerez. The world champion was in fact the fastest in the afternoon session, the one that designated the 10 drivers who will directly compete in Q2 tomorrow morning, and he did so with the new record of the Andalusian track in 1'36″025, beating the one that it belonged to him since 2022.
It was a session that saw the Ducatis make a big statement, as seven of them made it into the top 10, thus earning a pass to Q2. Behind the Piedmontese, however, is the Aprilia of a Maverick Vinales who also in Andalusia seems to have brought with him the great feeling with which he dominated two weeks ago in Austin.
Despite a crash at Turn 1 in the early stages of the session, the driver from Roses finished just 100 thousandths behind Bagnaia, with a speed at T4 that none of his rivals seem to have. Furthermore, he also showed excellent things when he worked on his race pace with the medium rear tire, so this time too he seems like one of those to keep an eye on.
The same goes for Marc Marquez, who when it was time to face the time attack set the third fastest time with his Gresini Racing Ducati GP23, 143 thousandths behind the top, but with the medium tire he gave the feeling of having a truly enviable pace. Behind him, to complete the top 5, there are the other two Desmosedici GPs of a rediscovered Marco Bezzecchi, finally as fast as the best of the lot despite a fall at turn 1, and that of world champion Jorge Martin, who today seemed a tad less bright and explosive than usual.
In sixth position is the second “intruder” and once again it is the rookie Pedro Acosta, who never ceases to amaze. That of the Moto2 world champion, in fact, is the only KTM to have earned Q2, with Brad Binder, Jack Miller and the wild card Dani Pedrosa who instead had to settle for 11th, 13th and 14th ° time, also causing everyone to crash in the hottest moment of the session, also affecting the time attacks of the competition with yellow flags.
However, not only was Ducati's Friday positive, but also Aprilia's, because Aleix Espargaro also climbed up to seventh position, with a delay of 421 thousandths with the second official RS-GP. However, things didn't go so well for the two Trackhouse Racing bikes, with Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira falling behind after both crashing at turn 13.
The list of riders who earned direct access to Q2 is completed with the other three Ducatis of Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez, who complete a top 10 all within just over half a second. The Gresini Racing rider qualified at the last minute, recovering after a crash at turn 13. The only Ducati out is therefore that of Franco Morbidelli, 12th, just over a tenth from tenth place on the Desmosedici GP of Prima Pramac Racing .
Once again the Japanese bikes are very late, with Alex Rins' Yamaha occupying 15th position ahead of Takaaki Nakagami's Honda. Fabio Quartararo was even 20th, also responsible for a high-speed crash at turn 7. You have to go down to 24th place to find Luca Marini, 1.8 seconds behind, who also finds himself behind the RC213V of wild card Stefan Bradl Behind him there is only the Aprilia of the other test rider Lorenzo Savadori to close the group.
#MotoGP #Jerez #Tests #Bagnaia #sets #record #Vinales #close
