The Spanish Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP) presented his candidacy for victory at the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix that this weekend will be held at the Barcelona circuit and it did so at the rate of a new absolute record in the category.
Espargaró rolled in 1:38.686 to achieve the best position for the second direct classification, in which he also will be your teammate Maverick Vinalesin addition to the world leader and current champion, the Italian Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP23).
like them too Frenchman Johann Zarco finished in the second direct classification (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), the South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16), the Spanish Alex Marquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP22), the Italians Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio and Enea Bastianini, and the Spanish Jorge Martín, all of them on Ducati Desmosedici GP paths.
The Portuguese Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia RS-GP), at the end of fourteenth, was the first leader of the only official MotoGP classification, with a third lap in 1:40.345 that climbed him to first place, 19 thousandths of a second less. than the Spanish Maverick Viñales, also a pilot of an Aprilia RS-GP, although in his official factory case, at the first change.
Oliveira took the lead in his third lap, seconded by Viñales and with the South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16), third, but still with more than fifty minutes of the session to go in which anything could happen, as it did, well At times the Italian Fabio di Giannantonio (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) took the lead in the table, which does not count for the future plans (2024) of any of the MotoGP teams.
In those first moments of time maelstrom, another Italian took little time to jump into the fray, as the world leader, ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia, climbed to the first position with 1:40.149 and in his wake, to rise to third place, was the Spanish Aleix Espargaró.
There was still a lot of session time ahead and the weather conditions weren’t the best, but the work in the workshops intensified as the minutes passed and that’s how the records of the main riders in the category began to drop.
Di Giannantonio did not last long at the head of the classification, as first his compatriot ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia and later Maverick Viñales they relegated him to third placeuntil in the final stretch he was losing steam to have to settle for eighth place.
Viñales round in 1:40.095 and, by 48 thousandths of a second, the Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) snatched the first position when there were still more than fifteen minutes of the session remaining on the practice table, with all the drivers going into their workshops to change tires and try the last “time attack”.
The barrier of one minute and 40 seconds was immediately broken, first with Fabio di Giannantonio, but he was followed by a dozen pilots who made it clear that the hostilities had begun and in just a few minutes Aleix Espargaró was already at the forefront of that list of candidates. to the best time of the category, 1:39.389.
One hundred thirty-two thousandths of a second was enough for Johann Zarco to defeat Aleix Espargaróbut with five minutes to go, the truth is that many changes could still take place, as was the case when Maverick Viñales went out on track for the last time to shoot in 1:39.048.
The surprise came moments later with Aleix Espargaró, who broke the absolute track record when rolling in 1:38.686which far exceeded the 2022 record, which he himself set when shooting at 1:38.742.
Aprilia’s dominance was overwhelming, with Espargaró and Viñales in the top positions, with a record included, ahead of Bagnaia, Zarco, Binder and Alex Márquez, while the ‘ruin’ of the Honda riders was confirmed, more than a second behind and a half the best of its drivers, Marc Márquez, and all of them in the last positions of the time table.
Ogura marks the best time in Moto2
The Japanese Ai Ogura (Kalex) confirmed his recovery after a start to the championship in which he never showed the efficiency of previous seasons, and set the pace with the best time of the first day of free practice Moto2.
Ogura, He set a best time of 1:44.804 in the morning session, that none of his rivals could beat in the afternoon session, which helps him to go off to rest with the best record in the category.
After Ogura, the Spanish Pedro Acosta (Kalex), leader of the world championship and who seeks to extend his lead in the championship, Alonso López (Boscoscuro), Arón Canet (Kalex) and Manuel “Manugas” González (Kalex).
Masiá consolidates his aspirations in Moto3
The Spanish Jaume Masia (Honda) consolidated his aspirations to victory in Moto3, by achieving the best time at the end of the first practice day, in which he was the fastest in the first morning session, he consolidated his position in the second and last session after lowering in almost a second his best personal time, because went from 1:49,210 in the morning to 1:48,300 in the afternoon.
Masiá is postulated as one of the main contenders for victory in Montmeló, since he also needs a good result to be able to play off the advantage that, after several mistakes, both the world championship leader, the Spanish Daniel Holgado (KTM), and his immediate rival, the Japanese Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna), in the fight for the 2023 world title.
2023-09-01 14:52:21
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