MotoGP Spain - Tests: Bagnaia wakes up

Francesco Bagnaia set the fastest time in the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix practice session after spending the session outside the top-10.

Published on 26/04/2024 à 16:07

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Bagnaia the fastest in Spain ©Michelin

Le MotoGP returns to Europe to compete in a long series of meetings, the first of which takes place in Jerez. The Spanish Grand Prix will see eleven of the twenty-two drivers entered perform at home, which promises to liven up the debates.

Tests:

The start of the session was marked by a few falls, including that of the latest winner, Maverick Vinales at turn 1.
The KTMs then took control of the session, and Brad Binder took the lead with a time of 1:36.794. Pedro Acosta is then in second place.
Halfway through the session, Binder is still in the lead, and the crashes are increasing. Alex Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, in very good shape this morning, made mistakes around the same time while trying to improve.

Maverick almost saved it at T1 😮💥

That attempt to avoid the crash deserves a round of applause anyway! 👏#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/y97W4RKXmg

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 26, 2024

It was after forty minutes of riding that Binder's mark fell. Maverick Vinales managed to complete a lap in 1:36.482, reacting as best as possible after his crash. Fabio di Giannantonio, Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro then also passed in front of the South African, without really threatening the number 12.
During the last ten minutes, the times dropped drastically, and the drivers threatened to go under minute 36 for the first time all weekend.
Author of an anonymous start on Friday, Francesco Bagnaia seemed to suffer during the practice session. His late awakening, however, allowed him to set the best time of the session in 1:36.025. Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez complete the top-3.
After dominating the start of the weekend, the KTMs successively fell at the wrong time and were ejected from the top-10. Each of Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Dani Pedrosa will have to go through Q1.
The French will also have to participate in the first part of the qualifying session. Johann Zarco ranks 18th in testing, ahead of fabio quartararo 20e.