MotoGP: The KTM star leads Zarco and Miller in an unpredictable MotoGP Practice as Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Aldeguer, Fernandez and more find themselves outside the top 10.
How about that for a MotoGP Practice outing? Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) delivered the goods on Friday to set the pace with a 1:57.559 as the #37 beat Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) by 0.019s, while Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) rounded out the top three in an unpredictable session. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) squeezes into Q2 despite a second crash of the day, but our last three Grand Prix winners – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) – face Q1. Oh, and so does Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing).
Acosta crashes early
Acosta was an early faller in the session at Turn 10, seeing the #37 not get a lap time on the board for the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, compatriot Aldeguer quickly climbed to the top of the timesheets with a 1:58.279, the rookie led Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Bagnaia early doors.
A frantic final 30 minutes unfold
Heading into the final 30 minutes, the top three remained the same, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) operating inside the top five. Alex Marquez was sixth ahead of Bezzecchi, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Zarco, and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), with those riders the other provisional automatic Q2 attendees as things stood.
Then, rain flags were being waved. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) promoted himself to P5 just after we saw the white and red flags out, which shoved Zarco into P11. However, that didn’t last long, because the Frenchman soared to P1 on his next time attack to demote countryman Quartararo out of the top 10 – but the Yamaha star was setting red sectors. And sure enough, the #20 rose to top spot with a 1:58.113, as Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) suffered his second crash of the day – this time Turn 2 bit the #73.
Practice ramped up quickly with the threat of rain looming, and very soon after he’d crashed, Marquez found himself outside the top 10. And then, the rain really did start to fall on some parts of the circuit.
Acosta landed a lap good enough for P6 in the nick of time, that lap shoved Di Giannantonio into the Q1 places, as every rider peeled back into pitlane with 12 minutes to go. Would there be a chance for anyone to improve? Marquez was certainly hoping so, because the rider gunning for P2 in the championship was now P14, with Bezzecchi and Bagnaia sitting P5 and P10.
It looked like there would be a chance. With seven minutes to go, the MotoGP field ventured out for one final throw at the top 10 dice, and it was a great first throw from Marquez. The #73 grabbed P3, meaning Bagnaia was now P11, as Acosta set a 1:57.559 to go half a second clear of the pack.
What did Pecco have in response? Not enough to begin with. The Italian improved but the lap was 0.048s away from the top 10, as Zarco and Miller jumped into the top three.
Pecco, meanwhile, was on a good lap three-quarters of the way round his last flying lap. However, four tenths went missing in the last split, and with that, it was Q1 for the 2024 Malaysian GP winner. Then, the focus turned to Aldeguer. Could the rookie find time on his last lap to gain Q2 promotion? The answer was no. And the same could be said for Bezzecchi and Australian GP winner Fernandez.
All that meant the last three Grands Prix winners will be in Q1 on Saturday morning. MotoGP’s unpredictability shining through once more.
Your Friday top 10
Mir heads into Saturday in P4 behind those above top three, with Quartararo rounding out the top five. Di Giannantonio improved late to finish P6 ahead of teammate Franco Morbidelli, as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) once again impresses by gaining automatic Q2 entry in P8. Ninth went to Marquez, who delivered when the pressure was on, as Rins held onto P10 despite a late crash.
Coming up: quali and the Tissot Sprint
Simply put, don’t miss out on the Q1 and Q2 fights on Saturday morning. That’s one breathless Friday that delivered some surprising results, setting us up nicely for qualifying and the Tissot Sprint.
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