free practice at Espargaro, Bagnaia 13th and out of Q1-Corriere.it

Aprilia marvelsbrace by Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinalesseparated by just two thousandths in the qualifying of the MotoGp of Jerez de la Frontera. The captain and the squire (but until when?), the two Spaniards overturned the result of the morning where a revived Daniel Pedrosa, KTM’s luxury test rider, had snatched the first time and the applause of the whole paddock.

It seemed impossible to adjust the times of the first round, because of the very hot on the track (48° asphalt, an oven) and yet, first Vinales and then his teammate gave up a paw that no one expected. Aprilia arrived with the aim of doing well, up to now they have confirmed expectations, Vinales had said so in his declarations on the eve: “We have a good chance here”. The KTM compatriot, who retired from the world championship at the end of 2018, nonetheless finished behind them, confirming a class that time hasn’t affected (“but for the race it will be another thing – he warns – I don’t have the pace of a grand prize in the arms”).

Ducati saves itself with Jorge Martinamong the fastest in both rounds as confirmed by the fourth place in the combined, ahead of Jack Miller (KTM fit on the Spanish track) and Johan Zarco who made good use of Bagnaia’s slipstream. The house in Noale also placed Miguel Oliveira in the virtual third rowin seventh position ahead of Alex Marquez (Ducati Gresini), Nakagami, first of Honda, and finally Luca Marini to close the top ten with the Desmosedici of the VR46 team.

His teammate and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi finished outside the top tenin twelfth position in front of Pecco Bagnaia that as he will have to tackle Q1 to aim for a position in qualifying worthy of the predictions.

The factory Ducati rider struggled all day looking for a feeling which he still struggles to find in Jerez. Difficulty cornering, above all, with the 2023 bike — last year he had won with the 2022 instead -. But the most disconsolate of the big names is once again Fabio Quartararo finished in sixteenth place. The French almost risked falling in a desperate attempt to improve his position, far from the best since the morning. Bad day for Honda, apart from Nakagami: Lecuona, Marquez’s replacement (who has postponed his return and is now aiming for Le Mans), crashed immediately, Joan Mir slipped twice, and finally Alex Rins, the winner of the gp of the United States. Enea Bastianini, who returned after the Portimao accident, suffered pain in his shoulder blade and sipped his strength.