The French Johann Zarco (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) got this Saturday his second “pole position” of the seasonbut the true protagonist of the qualifying session for the MotoGP British Grand Prix, which takes place on Sunday at the Silverstone circuit, was the Spaniard Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP), which resurfaced like a Phoenix after “hitting bottom” due to a sharp fall.
The fourth practice session did not start too well for Aleix Espargaró, who on the third lap of the British circuit he went airborne at turn 12 and all the alarms went off when he had to be evacuated to the circuit clinic after the strong blow he received.
Although Aleix Espargaró entered the circuit clinic on his own feet, limping with his right leg, in which he suffered a strong blow to the calcaneus area, as the circuit doctors later confirmed, after the examination in which he was submitted by the Medical Director of the championship, Ángel Charte, the pilot, whose wish was to be able to dispute the official classification, was declared “fit”.
Aleix Espargaró, who was diagnosed a bilateral contusion of both ankles and calcaneal contusion of the right footwas able to fulfill its objective and the Noale manufacturer’s engineers and mechanics had to work hard to fine-tune all the material that the second-placed MotoGP rider was going to have available to maintain the closest and most balanced fight possible with his direct rival, Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha YZR M 1), who He did not miss any opportunity to implement the “long lap” penalty that he will have to serve tomorrow at Silverstone.
The Aprilia rider started the official qualifying “smoothly” and Little by little he “warmed up” until he starred in a spectacular lapthe first under one minute and 58 seconds on the British track, although in the end he finished sixth, but demonstrating with his performance from the “ashes” of his heavy fall, that this will not prevent him from defending his title options in the best way possible.
El Italian Enea “La Bestia” Bastianini (Ducati Desmosedici GP21) and compatriot Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) They were the ones who managed to pass to the second classificationin the case of the latter after unseating the South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16) in the last lap by just 97 thousandths of a second, while the “debacle” of the Honda representatives was confirmed again, with Alex Márquez as the best Of all of them in seventh position and the Repsol Honda official, Pol Espargaró, ninth, more than seven tenths of a second behind the first.
Pol Espargaró, who used the latest aerodynamic evolution made available by the Japanese manufacturer, he spent a good part of the session far, far away from the leading times and only at the end managed to improve, but never to be, like last year, in the “pole position” of the category, not even to access the second direct classification.
From that moment on, the attention was on the Aprilia workshops, awaiting the arrival of Aleix Espargaró, who did not disappoint the fans and immediately took his seat in his position inside the workshop to finalize the details of the classification before for it to start.
Espargaró was soon out on the track, somewhat limping, but with the spirit intact to try to fight for the best possible classification and at the first change he got the ninth fastest time, with the also Spanish Jorge Martín (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) as the fastest in the initial moments, although the position did not last long because from behind, when crossing the finish line, Fabio Quartararo took first place with 1:58.259, just one thousandth second ahead of Australian Jack Miller (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia RS-GP).
Like the resurgence of the Phoenix, Aleix Espargaró he was the first to break the 1:58 barrier to ride in 1:57.966 and show that despite his sharp fall he was going to try to be as high as possibleknowing that all his rivals were going to attack his best time, as it was, because both Johann Zarco and Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo and “Pecco” Bagnaia lowered it, beating the first eight classified the absolute record of the circuit, which was in the possession of Marc Márquez since 2019 (1:58.168).
Zarco was the fastest in the end, barely 98 thousandths of a second ahead of Maverick Viñales and from him to Aleix Espargaró, sixth, passing Miller, Quartararo and Bagnaia, in less than two tenths of a second.
The third row went to the Italians Bezzecchi and Bastianini, together with Jorge Martín, and already with the Italian Luca Marini (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) and the Spaniards from Suzuki, Alex Rins and Joan Mir, in the fourth.
