Espargaró Leads Aprilia 1-2 In Catalan MotoGP Practice
Calum Gill 14:39 03/06/2022
Aleix Espargaró was three tenths clear of anyone as Aprilia took a 1-2 in second MotoGP practice for the Catalan Grand Prix.
Espargaró first went fastest 20 minutes into the 45-minute session with a 01:40.207 lap of the Barcelona circuit, using medium front and rear tyres. That represented the fastest lap of the weekend at the time, and beat Marco Bezzechi’s previous FP2 benchmark by more than half a second. It was only inside the final 10 minutes that Espargaró’s time was beaten, as Aprilia team-mate Maverick Viñales set two consecutive fastest laps - the second of which was a 01:39.705, as the majority of riders opted for soft rear tyres. Espargaró was briefly bumped out of the top four by improvements from Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, but went fastest by 0.303 seconds at the chequered flag with a best time of 0139.402.
That therefore meant Bastianini was third for Gresini, 0.185 seconds behind Viñales, and at the head of a Ducati 3-4-5 with Bagnaia and Jorge Martín next up. Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder improved to sixth after the chequered flag ahead of Jack Miller, the Ducati rider using soft tyres on both the front and the rear to set his lap. Miller has been the topic of discussion in the paddock so far this weekend, having reportedly agreed a switch to the factory KTM squad on a two-year deal. Points leader Fabio Quartararo - whose contract extension at Yamaha was announced on Thursday - and factory team-mate Franco Morbidelli were eighth and 10th, sandwiching the lead Suzuki of Álex Rins.
Pol Espargaró - left frustrated by a new chassis and swing arm trialled by Marc Márquez last weekend being given to LCR's Takaaki Nakagami - was the fastest Honda rider in the session but could only set the 11th-fastest time, while stand-in team-mate Stefan Bradl produced the only incident of note when he fell midway through the session. Bradl had been following the pacesetting Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró when he dropped his Honda. He was nevertheless OK to complete the session and ended up 23rd, ahead of Tech3 KTM pair Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner.
