Aleix Espargaró breaks the record and disaster of Honda and Yamaha
Aleix Espargaró dominated the MotoGP practice in Barcelona
, which marks the step to Q2 and the fight for pole. The one from Granollers allowed himself to beat his own absolute track record. The Aprilia are there to stand up to the Ducati.
The heat was much greater than in the morning. It was 27 degrees in the air and 40 on the asphalt under the sun.
Having an hour of session, the teams dedicated the first part to rehearsing with hard tires, especially the front, to test with a view to the long race on Sunday.
Takaaki Nakagami had a mechanical problem with his Honda, which stopped at the entry angle to the finish line.
Pecco Bagnaia was not very satisfied at the start. He was not comfortable, and he made it known with his gestures… and with his timing, since he was far behind, between the Hondas.
Quartararo was comparing two exhausts on his Yamaha. The Japanese have brought him a different one for this appointment.
The reigning champion took little time to react. It was changing his Ducati GP23 and taking control of the session… with medium rear rubber.
The ‘1’ met Marc Márquez and passed him brilliantly. He couldn’t even follow him to study him. The eight-time champion was last in the table. Tremendous.
Maverick Viñales made a great ‘save’ in turn 13. He wants to have a ‘fuss’ at home. He didn’t even stop in his garage after the scare, although he hallucinated. The one who couldn’t avoid the fall was Raúl Fernández, who had an accident in turn 12. He entered a little hard and his RNF Aprilia ended up against the air barrier. The man from Madrid took a scooter from a police officer to go quickly for his second motorcycle.
With 20 minutes to go, everyone stopped to mount the soft tires to go for the fastest laps.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the first to drop below 1:40. Many see the Italian out of the Ducati Gresini in 2024 and, therefore, a place must be found outside. In Superbike he has it more difficult because Dall’Igna confirmed that Andrea Iannone will ride one of his satellite bikes.
Viñales, first, and then Aleix, lowered him with relative ease. Of course, the Ducati attack was missing.
However, on their first try, they couldn’t beat the Aprilias. Bezzecchi was the closest.
But in the second, Zarco already surpassed Granollers by one tenth.
Viñales responded with an excellent 1:39.0. However, he fell short before the return of Aleix Espargaró. He ran 1:38.6 breaking the absolute track record.
Luca Marini went wide and the stewards brought out the yellow flags and some laps were cancelled. In the ‘top 10’ are: Aleix Espargaró, Viñales, Bagnaia, Zarco, Binder, Álex Márquez, Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio, Bastianini and Jorge Martín. Q1 out now: Pol Espargaró, Miller, Raúl Fernández, Oliveira, Marini, Augusto Fernández, Quartararo, Morbidelli, Marc Márquez, Nakagami, Lecuona and Mir.The classification reflected the drama of the Japanese bikes : the four Hondas, the last four. And the two before, the two Yamahas. That is, the last six, the Japanese motorcycles. Amazing.
In Moto3 , Masiá dominated the day with his morning time, failing to improve in the afternoon, where Ortolá led, although four tenths behind Jaume. The heat was noticeable. Holgado got into the ‘top 14’ without problems, like Rueda or Sasaki, who fell. Out and praying that it doesn’t rain tomorrow, David Muñoz, Salvador, the ‘guest’ Almansa, Ana Carrasco or Artigas.
In Moto2 , the morning times were mostly not lowered either. Thus, Ogura commanded the day. The Japanese will leave Honda Team Asia in 2024 and will race with the MT MSi, the team that takes Pons’ places. Acosta was second, but with great pace, ahead of Alonso López, Canet and Manu González, who was the best in the afternoon. In Q2, also Arengas, Sergio García Dols, Arbolino, who suffered, or Aldeguer. Out, for now, Alcoba, Ramírez, Borja Gómez, Izan Guevara or Yeray Ruiz, who replaces Álex Escrig.
MOTOGP BARCELONA PRACTICAL CLASSIFICATION