MotoGp Jerez, free practice: Aleix Espargaró in front of everyone, Aprilia dominates

L’Aprilia leaves everyone speechless, dominating the first day of free tests Of Jerezfourth round of the world of MotoGP: best time for Aleix Esparagaro ahead of the other official driver of the Noale team, Maverick Vinales. The 37-year-old also climbs onto the virtual podium Dani Pedrosawho retired from racing 5 years ago but continues to be a (luxury) test driver for the KTM: “I’m happy, I didn’t expect to go so fast”, says the Spaniard, who took advantage of the morning conditions to place a time trial that seemed unbeatable for an hour and a half. The most surprising thing is that the first three of the standings, winners of the previous GPs, failed to pass directly to Q2 on the incandescent Andalusian asphalt: Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Rins – but also Quartararothe bruised one Bastianini and one how Mirwho won the title 3 years ago – the worst will battle in qualifying, scheduled for tomorrow at 10:50. There will be only 2 places available for Q2, it will be a battle.

Aleix Espargarò: “We will fight for the win”

The Aprilia jewels had already impressed during FP1, they continued to convince throughout the afternoon until they blossomed in the final laps: Aleix made a big statement with a 1’36”708, just 2 thousandths ahead of Maverick. Vinales had been the first to improve by half a tenth the time of the terrible “old man”, Pedrosa. “It’s only Friday but I’m happy, because with all the tires we made a good pace. With the soft – and 50 degrees! – we were incredible”, smiles Espargarò. “I’m going fast on all the circuits but I’m missing the results, I need consistency. We can fight for the win here.” Vinales also seems more than satisfied: “I felt quite good in the afternoon too, despite the heat. Happy with the weather, we could have done better but we have been constant: we have to keep working and pushing. We had also been fast on the other tracks, you just need to be able to balance everything. This one in Jerez could be a good opportunity”.

Ducati in difficulty, and Bastianini could stop

Looks a little worried instead in the official Ducati box. David Tardozzi, the team manager admits: “Everything was missing a bit, Pecco didn’t get on well with either of the 2 bikes right from the first minutes of this morning, much less with the changes we made during the day. The situation is quite complicated, there is something big to change: and we have to do it quickly”. Bagnaia finished 13th at 525 thousandths from the fastest. His team-mate Bastianini, who has not yet fully recovered from the fracture to his right scapula (“This weekend will be training for him”, explains Tardozzi), finished 21st at almost one second and 3 tenths. What suffering: he might not run on Sunday. It didn’t go very well for Bezzecchi either, the current world championship leader but today only 12th at just under half a second. Rins, who won the last Austin gp with Honda, crashed in the final stages and has to settle for 15th place (-0”779). Quartararo, an ordeal: “In the afternoon it was a disaster. We keep experimenting, but nothing works.”