Argentina – EL1: Aprilia dominates, Quartararo dark

A decimated peloton, comprising only 18 motorcycles, set off this Friday for the first practice session of the Argentine Grand Prix on the Termas de Rio Hondo track in Argentina. Four injured drivers are in fact absent for this second round of the season MotoGP 2023: Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), Pol Espargaró (GASGAS Factory Tech3) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF Aprilia).

Still lacking in confidence, Franco Morbidelli was the first driver to take to the track for the 45 minutes scheduled for the start of the weekend, on a dry track but under a very threatening sky.

The times struggled to get going since after 15 minutes of driving, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) held the best mark in 1'40″647, far from the track record of 1'37″683, owned by Marc Márquez since the first edition of a MotoGP Grand Prix on this track in 2014.

Midway through the session, the pace remained calm while Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) still occupied last place in the standings after a studious start to the session. Unfortunately, it always takes a first driver to make a mistake and this inglorious distinction went to Alex Rins (LCR Honda) who fell at the end of the pit straight without much damage, apart from a little driving time. lost.

A tumble in the Turn 1 gravel for @Rins42! 💥

He should be able to get back in time and put some lapses in on his 2nd bike! 🤞#ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/gVGYpeSdgr

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) March 31, 2023

Since the start of the session, fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) seemed to be fighting against his Yamaha every time he braked without being able to significantly improve his time. The clearly perceptible annoyance each time I got off the motorbike was not really reassuring.

With the rain threatening to disrupt the second session of the day, all the drivers came out on new tires in the final minutes to try to secure a place in the Top 10, synonymous with a guaranteed presence in Q2. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) was the first to go under 1'40, launching the final rush. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) seemed to be on track and improved at each intermediate to take the best time in 1'39″207 ahead of his teammate Aleix Espargaro, while Zarco finally entered the Top 10 in a good 6th place.

Disappointment on the other hand for Fabio Quartararo who could not do better than 15th out of 18 classified drivers. The only positive point for the Yamaha clan is the good form of France Morbidelli 8th. 

Ranking of 1^st Argentine GP practice session

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