Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) has not said his last word! The Italian dominated the qualifying tests for the Barcelona GP on Friday, while the leader of the MotoGP world championship, the Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), had to settle for fifth fastest time.
“Hope for something”
With 24 lengths behind the Madrilenian at the dawn of the last round of the season where 37 points remain to be distributed, the double title holder from Turin will have a hard time achieving the hat-trick. He still put pressure on his opponent during this first day of driving on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit in Montmelo.
A little behind (7th) in the morning during the first free practice session contested in fairly cool conditions and won to everyone's surprise by the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami (Honda-LCR), Bagnaia pressed the accelerator in in the afternoon to appear at the top of the timesheet.
READ ALSO. MotoGP. Jorge Martin world champion at the last Grand Prix in Spain if…
“I'm very happy with the day because the track conditions are very different from the last race here in May, and we adapted well. I have no choice, I have to be very strong every weekend to hope for anything”underlined the Italian.
Martin, for his part, achieved the fifth fastest time in the morning and did not manage to improve this ranking in the afternoon despite a few degrees more.
Zarco well ranked, more complicated for Quartararo
“The day was complicated even if my pace seems good. My sensations were strange and I lacked grip with the rear tire. But I will remain calm and remember the positive because I know which direction to go for qualifying on Saturday”explained the Madrilenian.
SEE ALSO. VIDEO. Moto GP: Bagnaia's strange fall in free practice before the final for the world title
The tension was palpable on Friday among the two candidates for the title. Thus Bagnaia showed signs of annoyance several times, missed his attempt to start and fell a few seconds later after being surprised by the Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) who passed near him at high speed at the end of the race. the pit straight.
Martin was unable to adapt to the fairly cold conditions and tried several types of tires, without success. However, he remains in a strong position with his comfortable lead in the championship.
Friday afternoon, the Spaniard was even beaten by the Frenchman Johann Zarco (Honda-LCR), surprising fourth who won his ticket for the second part of qualifying (Q2) which determines the first 12 places on the starting grid the sprint on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday.
READ ALSO. MotoGP. Bagnaia wins ahead of Martin in Malaysia, the suspense remains for the world title
The other Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), took 13th place and on the other hand missed qualifying for Q2 and will have to get out of the first part of qualifying (Q1) if he wishes to obtain a good position on the grid.
Ranking of qualifying trials:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1: 38.918 (Q)
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) at 0.080 (Q)
3. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.107 (Q)
4. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 0.279 (Q)
5. Jorge Martín (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 0.296 (Q)
6. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 0.306 (Q)
7. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.377 (Q)
8. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.443 (Q)
9. Pedro Acosta (ESP/GasGas-Tech3) 0.500 (Q)
10. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 0.549 (Q)
…
13. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.873
Related News :