Editorial Note: The current race lap record time is a 1:48.120 set by Jorge Lorenzo in 2015.

Gran Premio Movistar De Aragon

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Motorland Aragon

Alcaniz, Spain

September 21, 2018

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Marc Marquez, Spain (Honda), 1:47.382

2. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Ducati), 1:47.520

3. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Ducati), 1:47.835

4. Cal Crutchlow, UK (Honda), 1:47.862

5. Andrea Iannone, Italy (Suzuki), 1:47.919

6. Danilo Petrucci, Italy (Ducati), 1:48.134

7. Dani Pedrosa, Spain (Honda), 1:48.389

8. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Ducati), 1:48.452

9. Valentino Rossi, Italy (Yamaha), 1:48.501

10. Maverick Vinales, Spain (Yamaha), 1:48.552

11. Franco Morbidelli, Italy (Honda), 1:48.654

12. Jack Miller, Australia (Ducati), 1:48.680

13. Aleix Espargaro, Spain (Aprilia), 1:48.808

14. Pol Espargaro, Spain (KTM), 1:48.850

15. Bradley Smith, UK (KTM), 1:48.861

16. Alex Rins, Spain (Suzuki), 1:48.902

17. Johann Zarco, France (Yamaha), 1:48.997

18. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic (Ducati), 1:49.016

19. Takaaki Nakagami, Japan (Honda), 1:49.123

20. Scott Redding, UK (Aprilia), 1:49.441

21. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland (Honda), 1:49.690

22. Xavier Simeon, Belgium (Ducati), 1:49.925

23. Hafizh Syahrin, Malaysia (Yamaha), 1:49.937

24. Jordi Torres, Spain (Ducati), 1:51.081

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Uphill opening for Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo in Aragón

With the eighth fastest time in FP1 Johann Zarco commenced the 14thround of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship season in a decent way this morning. On the hot MotorLand Aragón circuit the French star could improve slightly on his fastest time in the second Free Practice, concluding day one just 0.496 seconds behind the fastest Yamaha rider of the field.

On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 garage, Hafizh Syahrin learned his way around the demanding Spanish track today aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1and lowered his lap time by 0.757 seconds from the first to the second session today. The Malaysian MotoGP rookie finished day one determined to further improve from FP3 tomorrow morning at 9.55 local time.

Johann Zarco

Position: 17th – Time: 1’48.997 – Laps: 35

“It has been a difficult end of Friday here in Aragón. FP1 has been better than what I expected and I was happy because I had a good feeling on the bike. In the afternoon we totally lost this good feeling – the warm temperature with less grip on the track, we just lost our bike and couldn’t do anything. That’s very complicated as I tried everything on the bike but on every lap, I was too slow. It’s a sad situation, I will keep fighting anyway to be inside the top 10 and try to work for the race but we have no real solution and the gap is too big.”

Hafizh Syahrin

Position: 23rd – Time: 1’49.937 – Laps: 31

“In FP2 I had a good feeling and we were able to improve. Already on the first run I could go 0.6 seconds faster than this morning. I tried to use a different bike and with it tried to understand a different setup, but I had too less grip as we were using the same tyre like before. After the last run we put in the new rubber, unfortunately I didn’t have a good front feeling in the middle of the corner, which I don’t understand. Now I try to find out where we have to improve because position-wise we are quite far from the top. It looks like I need to understand everything better and try to improve a lot for tomorrow, as at the moment we have a very good feeling with the body and the bike, but I’m just struggling a bit on the track.”

More, from a press release issued by Alma Pramac Racing:

Gran Premio de Aragon – Free Practices

#AragonGP FP. Good start for Alma Pramac Racing at Motorland: Petrux 6th, Jack close to Top 10.

The weekend of the Gran Premio de Aragon has started well for Alma Pramac Racing. Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller start very fast in Fp1 (respectively second and third to complete the Ducati’s poker with Dovizioso 1st and Lorenzo 4th) and in FP2 their race pace is positive. In Fp2 Petrux pushes in the time attack finishes closes while Jack, after having turned on three red helmets, has a small technical problem in the last sector and must settle for 12th place, just one-tenth of a second behind Top 10.

P6 – Danilo Petrucci

“I’m quite happy for this first day of activity even though I can’t be satisfied with what we did in FP2. The tests have given us positive indications and I think we can improve tomorrow. The high temperature, however, will be a problem”.

P12 – Jack Miller

“I had a problem in the first lap of the time attack when I was going very fast and this made me lose precious tenths of a second. The race pace, however, is very positive with the used tyres. I am confident that I can qualify well tomorrow”.

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Gresini Racing:

HARD WORK IN THE APRILIA GARAGE ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE

A fascinating but complex track put the Aprilia riders to the test on the first day of practice at Motorland Aragón. Aleix Espargaró improved his performance by almost one second between the two sessions, finishing thirteenth in the combined standings. The Spanish rider complains of a certain difficulty going into turns – a problem he’ll work on to test a few new settings.

Scott Redding also shaved some time off his performance between FP1 and FP2, although not quite as much. The British rider’s struggles can be attributable mainly to a poor feeling in braking, independently of tyre choice. Work in tomorrow’s sessions will focus o–

“This track is one of my favourites. I like this type of layout a lot. We still have not solved the problems that have limited us up to now, especially going into turns when I release the brakes. We are trying a lot of geometry solutions with my crew chief Pietro. He has certainly brought a lot of new ideas with him, but we are still not as competitive as we would like to be. We are continuing to carefully analyse every bit of data along with the technicians to try and figure out the source of the problems. It is not an easy job, but we are giving it our all.”

SCOTT REDDING

“This morning I didn’t feel too bad. I’m riding more comfortably than I was in Misano. In the afternoon, we started with the used tyre from this morning and things got worse. The thing that worries me is the difficulty stopping the bike. I can’t do much at this juncture. It is a limitation that is difficult to overcome. For tomorrow, we have some ideas in terms of settings to try to improve. My feeling on the bike is not bad, but in the end, it’s the times that count.”

More, from a press release issued by Angel Nieto Team:

BAUTISTA STARTS ARAGON GP IN TOP 10

Comapa Ángel Nieto Team places eighth on the timesheets on the opening day of practice at MotorLand

The first day of the Aragón Grand Prix was dominated by Ducati riders, although this was more evident during the morning session than in the afternoon. In FP1 there were four Ducati riders in the first four positions.. The fastest rider of the day, however, was Marc Márquez, with a 1:47.382 lap. He was joined by Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso in the top three on Friday. Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci were close behind and Dani Pedrosa and Comapa Ángel Nieto Team rider Álvaro Bautista was a second back.

The Comapa Ángel Nieto Team and Álvaro Bautista were inside the Top 10 on the first day of practice for the Aragón Grand Prix, with an eighth position that would give a provisional spot in Q2 to the Spanish rider. Bautista is looking to maintain his run of positive finishes at a track where he placed eighth last season. Tomorrow he will attempt to shave tenths off his times by improving the electronics and his riding. Karel Abraham closed the first day in a deceiving eighteenth position, since the combination of his best sector times would place him eleventh overall. The Czech rider was happy with his evolution on the opening day and will look to continue in the same way this weekend.

8th Álvaro Bautista 1:48.452 (23 laps): “The distance to the frontrunners here is large, but my feeling isn’t bad and the times have been fast. In the morning we worked to find references, and we didn’t even change tyres. In the afternoon we switched things up and we tried others like the hard compound, which I liked. At the end I tried to put in a good lap and, although we are up there, I think I can improve both in terms of the electronics and my riding in order to lower the time a bit and secure the spot in Q2. We will study the data so that we can improve tomorrow.” “

18th Karel Abraham 1:49.016 (27 laps): “I’m very happy with this first day; we have done very well and we are very close to our best lap here. At the same time, I’m a little disappointed because in the last session I clocked several laps around 1:48 but always encountered other riders on the racing line. I may have lost some very important tenths there, as I was setting a much better time than I eventually achieved. It’s a shame, because with my ideal time, which is four tenths quicker, I would have placed eleventh. It’s a big difference, but we’ve had two good sessions where we’ve been able to try many things. We are close to the limit with the front end, so we are going to investigate what we can change in the rear to have a great qualifying session and a good weekend.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Castrol:

CRUTCHLOW ON THE PACE IN ARAGON

LCR Honda CASTROL rider Cal Crutchlow maintained his impressive recent form on the opening day of free practice at the Grand Prix of Aragon. The Briton claimed a place on the podium in the last round in Misano and was back on the pace once again in north-east Spain as he ended the day in fourth position on the timesheets at the MotorLand Aragon circuit.

Crutchlow had struggled to match the pace of the Ducati riders in the morning’s FP1 session as he placed ninth, but improved by over a second in the afternoon to finish behind only Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso. Pleased with his efforts and the feeling with his Beta Tools branded RC213V, the LCR man is now hoping to challenge for a spot on the front row in Saturday’s qualifying.

Cal Crutchlow – 4th

(1’47.862 – lap 15 of 17)

“Yeah, it was not too bad today, I felt quite good with the bike. We tried two different settings on the Honda today, both had some positives and negatives so we’re just in the middle of trying to build something in between. The bike felt good on the track and was working well”.

“I made a big mistake on my fast lap when I ran into the back of Pol (Espargaro) at the last corner and went out of the track, but I still managed to do a decent lap time, so there’s some positives from that as we can probably gain three tenths on that time. I feel good, I have to continue to concentrate on our race set up and see how well we can qualify tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Reale Avintia Racing:

Simeon improves his feeling, Torres has a good debut in Aragon

MotoGP GP of Aragón – MotorLand Aragón

The riders of team Reale Avintia Racing had a good first day at the Grand Prix of Aragón, with Xavier Simeon improving aboard the Ducati GP17 of injured team-mate Tito Rabat and with newcomer Jordi Torres finishing only a little more than a second behind the second-last rider.

Since the weekend has only just begun, both Simeon and Torres are convinced they can improve further. The Belgian rider will focus on the set-up of hisbike in order to be more consistent, whereas the Spanish rider from Rubí will work on adapting his aggressive riding style to suit and get the maximum out of his Ducati.

FP3 will take place at 9:55 h on Saturday morning, whereas the qualifying runs for the starting grid will start at 14:10 h.

Xavier Simeon | 1’49.925 | P22

“It was a very positive day despite a technical problem with one of the bikes. This aside, I am very happy with the first day because it didn’t go bad at all. My lap time was decent even though I still have to improve my rhythm and consistency a lot. This bike wears the rear tyre out quite quickly and we have to work on this aspect. I hope to make another step forward tomorrow. I will try to give it all in Q1 in order to be as close to the front as possible on the starting grid.”

Jordi Torres | 1’51.081 | P24

“I honestly thought it would be much more difficult to ride in this category and on this bike than it really was. I also want to say that the team made it very easy for me to get used to the bike step by step. They gradually gave me more engine power, taking the traction control back bit by bit, which made the bike always a bit more difficult to tame, but also more enjoyable for me. It was an exciting day with high expectations from many sides, but I was not satisfied. I am the first one to put pressure on myself. There is no doubt that we should have done lap times around 1’50.6 or 1’50.7 and the fact that we didn’t achieve this is my fault. I am still unable to string a good lap without any small mistakes together, I still need to be more precise and consistent. I also didn’t want to take any risks because it wasn’t the day to do that. To get to the point where we are now was relatively easy, but to improve further will be tough. It’s not so much a question of bravery or riding style than to figure out how to do cover the straights in the shortest possible. Every time I want to accelerate earlier or brake later, I make mistakes. But this night, I will re-think everything and tomorrow, I hope to get a bit closer.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA SET UP FOR SCORCHING CONDITIONS IN FIRST ARAGON FP SESSIONS

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales started the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón race weekend focusing on improving their bikes‘ set-ups for extremely hot conditions. They finished in ninth and tenth place respectively in the combined standings.

Alcañiz (Spain), 21st September 2018

Today Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales kicked off the last European round before the overseas tour. They finished in ninth and tenth place respectively in the combined standings ahead of Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón.

Rossi needed a little time to get up to speed in the morning session. He spent the majority of the 45 minutes of free practice confirming findings and data gathered at the private Aragon test the team held a few weeks ago. In the final stages he put his head down and briefly moved up to sixth place with a 1‘48.958s penultimate lap. He was unable to put in another fast lap, but he still ended the session in seventh place, with a 0.938s margin to first.

The Doctor continued his work in the afternoon session, determined to make another step. He carried on tweaking the bike‘s setting and put it to the test in the final minutes of FP2, when the rider field held their usual shoot-out to claim a spot in the provisional combined FP timesheets. The Italian left it until late, but ultimately shaved off almost half a second off his morning result, securing ninth place with a 1‘48.501s lap, 1.119s off today‘s fastest time.

Viñales likes the Aragon circuit and was excited to start his third home GP of the season. He headed out on track with his special red and yellow livery that matches the Spanish national colours and a helmet that features a sticker on the back referring to Aragon. The youngster gradually built up pace until six minutes before the end, when he clocked a 1‘48.803s, equalling the provisional P1 time. However, as the speeds increased towards the end of FP1, the Spaniard dropped to fifth position, 0.783s from first.

In the afternoon the local hero shifted his attention towards the weight distribution of his Yamaha, a vital component at the challenging track at Alcañiz. He kept focused on the task of preparing for Sunday‘s race, which is predicted to be held in similar scorching weather conditions. He set the tenth fastest time of the day in the final stages of FP2, with a 1‘48.552s lap, 1.170 s from the top of the timesheets.

With all MotoGP riders improving in FP2, Rossi and Viñales hold ninth and tenth place in the combined free practice results, ahead of tomorrow morning‘s FP3 session.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

It was a very difficult first day here in Aragon. What we found three weeks ago during the test is not working at all, even though the conditions of the track today were even better than they were then. There’s not just one area where we are suffering, indeed there are many. Also, the tyres are making our difficulties even bigger. Although it won’t be easy, we’ll try to give the riders the best package to fight in tomorrow’s qualifying.

VALENTINO ROSSI

It’s very important to stay inside the top-10, because it will be a difficult weekend, as historically we always suffer more here than in Misano. Already there our performance wasn’t fantastic. The problem here is also that, although I’m inside the top-10, the gap to the front is big. So it will be hard, we have to stay concentrated and try to work in all the areas on all the small details, and try to make the result as good as possible.

MAVERICK VIÑALES

I think the track is much better than when we were here last for testing. I don’t know why, but the bike is not working the same way as it was back then. We have to keep working, stay patient, and try to do our best. We’ve kept the setting completely the same, but it’s not working. We have zero grip on the rear tyre, that’s the feeling I have, and the tyres look very damaged when I return to the garage. During the test we could do 30 laps on each tyre and it was perfect. We’re trying to figure out what the problem is, but it’s difficult. So, the test was not very useful for today – I feel very different out on track, but I myself am feeling really good, it’s just that the bike is working differently. We now need to gather information and prepare for tomorrow.

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Idemitsu:

NAKAGAMI STILL UPBEAT AFTER DAY ONE IN ARAGON

LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami will look to make further improvement after the opening day of free practice at the Grand Prix of Aragon. In sweltering conditions in north-east Spain, the Japanese rookie finished day one down in 19th position, but remains hopeful he can make important strides forward in Saturday’s qualifying.

Nakagami acknowledged that the heat at the MotorLand Aragon circuit had made life tougher with the sun beating down during both the morning and afternoon sessions. Despite improving by nearly a second from FP1 to FP2, Taka placed 19th in both and will now look to LCR team-mate Cal Crutchlow for guidance ahead of Saturday’s action.

Takaaki Nakagami – 19th

(1’49.123 – lap 18 of 19)

“It was very hot conditions all day, this morning and then especially this afternoon in FP2. It was quite tough conditions, but the track condition was quite good for the first day and many people improved their lap time”.

“We are still struggling a bit with the soft tyre on the rear and we are not getting 100 percent of the potential from the soft tyre. We are working on the hard compound on the rear for the race which is giving quite a positive lap time and feeling, but we still need to improve for a qualifying lap time. I’m going to check on the data with Cal (Crutchlow) to understand where I’m losing time and where I can improve.” 

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Positive start to the Aragon Grand Prix for Marquez in 1st and Pedrosa in 7th

It was a positive start to the Aragon Grand Prix for the Repsol Honda Team, with Championship leader Marc Marquez topping Friday’s standings and teammate Dani Pedrosa managing to considerably improve from 18th in FP1 to seventh overall.

Fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow was fourth while rookie Franco Morbidelli finished just outside of the top-10, in eleventh to mark a very positive result for Honda.

The day was marked by sunny and hot conditions, which should continue over the weekend, with air temperature on race day possibly even increasing from today’s 30°C.

Marc Marquez 93

1ST 1’47.382

“Today we worked quite well and improved a lot from morning to afternoon, especially with the rear tyre. It was our first day at the track this season and we had to adjust the setting of the bike and the electronics. We must also keep working in this way tomorrow. In the end of FP2 everyone put on a new rear tyre, even us. This was maybe the first Friday that we did that this year! It’s important for understanding the outcome of a few things we changed on the bike. Now we have less doubts, but also we want to reconfirm something tomorrow. Luckily the weather is fine, and actually very hot. Ducati has tested here so we don’t want to leave anything out in order to be at same level.”

Dani Pedrosa 26

7TH 1’48.389

“Today we mainly concentrated on testing the tyres, suspension, and on getting the feeling with the track. Conditions were quite hot and apparently they’re going to stay that way during the weekend, so it’s important to try and get a good feeling for the race. We didn’t put fresh tyres on at the end of FP1, but we did it for the last run in the afternoon. We couldn’t improve our lap time as we wished with the soft tyre, so we need to look into this, as well as keep working on our race pace.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki ECSTAR:

PROMISING DAY 1 FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR AT ARAGON

Andrea Iannone: 5th – 1:47.909 (+ 0.537)

Alex Rins: 16th – 1:48.902 (+ 1.520)

• Andrea Iannone fast in both sessions.

•Alex Rins feeling positive for days ahead.

•Hot track and tight lap times on Day 1.

The first day of action at Motorland Aragon in central Spain was a positive and promising one for Team SUZUKI ECSTAR as both riders reported good feelings and both are known to enjoy the varied and tricky track. A hot start to proceedings saw tight lap times in FP1 where Iannone and Rins finished 10th and 11th respectively.

In FP2 the mercury was rising and the track reached 43c. Andrea Iannone got off to a great start and topped the session, he held this position for a decent portion of FP2 and eventually finished 5th as others pushed for fast laps. Meanwhile, Alex Rins started well and was in the provisional Top 10 until he switched his focus to set-up and dropped to 16th. Tomorrow morning’s FP3 session with cooler conditions is likely to see riders go even faster, so Q1 and Q2 places are expected to be decided then.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager

“Overall I’d say it’s been a positive day. Andrea showed good pace this morning and again this afternoon, he’s in fifth position and we’re working to make him feel more comfortable on the bike, but he has good speed. Alex also did a good job today, working a lot on race preparation and trying different tyres. Tomorrow morning we’ll put in the effort to try and stay in the Top 10, but today it was important to work on other areas so I think we’ve done a good job. We’ll check some data tonight and then look forward to continuing tomorrow.”

Andrea Iannone

“We’ve started in a good direction; good pace with the bike and good feeling. It’s important that we improve on the braking points at angle a bit and the tyre drop-off. I tried the medium and the hard rear and we lost a bit of time with the degradation. We’ll try to fix these issues tomorrow and have a good day.”

Alex Rins

“It was a positive Friday compared with other recent opening days. We know that we’re not in the top positions, but we’re using a different mentality and we tried a lot of things today including many different tyre options. Usually I prefer a medium or soft front but I also like the hard front tyre here. So it’s difficult to find the right balance with the tyre degradation. Tomorrow we’ll do another big step on lap times because today we didn’t use soft tyres to set a fast lap. I hope I can do a good qualifying tomorrow and get a good position for the race.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Jorge Lorenzo second, Andrea Dovizioso third at the end of the first day of official practice for the Aragon GP

The Aragon GP weekend got off to a positive start for the two factory Ducati Team riders, as Jorge Lorenzo finished second and Andrea Dovizioso third on day 1 at the MotorLand track in Spain.

In the morning’s Free Practice 1, Dovizioso had set the quickest time of the session, with Lorenzo not far behind in fourth.

In the afternoon nearly all the riders were able to improve their times towards the end of the second session and Jorge Lorenzo was second quickest with a lap of 1’47.520 while Andrea Dovizioso ended the day in third with a time of 1’47.835.

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 2nd – 1’47.520

“I’m satisfied with today, especially because we made a step forward and we improved our performance from the morning to the afternoon. I felt really good on the bike, especially in my final exits in FP2, and that’s a good sign. I think that the lap time I set will be good enough to take me though directly into Q2 and so tomorrow we will be able to focus on improving our pace and work in view of the race. Overall, I’m happy with the feeling and now we only have to sort out a few details and try and improve a bit in every corner.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 3rd – 1’47.835

“Today has been very positive, because we were able to start off the day by immediately regaining the good feeling we had achieved in the test in August, and so now we’ve already got some pretty clear ideas about the tyres and the set-up. This will enable us to work on the details tomorrow because I think that the conditions will improve a bit and so we’ll be able to understand how the tyres will really behave. As always we must try and be quick while consuming the tyres as little as possible: in every track this is the characteristic, but here at Aragón it’s even more important. At the moment there are three of us who have a very similar pace, but it won’t be enough and so tomorrow we’ll have to improve a bit more.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Marquez resists Ducati charge on Day 1

After Ducati dominated Friday morning at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon with a 1-2-3-4 led by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) responded in the afternoon to finish Friday on top. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) moved up the timesheets to pip his teammate and take over as quickest Ducati in second overall, with Dovizioso left to round out the top three by the end of play. MotorLand Aragon looks set to stage another Honda vs Ducati battle.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) kept that raging just outside the top three too, with the Brit taking fourth and ending Day 1 fastest Independent Team rider as he vies to extend his lead this weekend in those standings.

It wasn’t until the final five minutes when the battle for Friday’s honours started to heat up at a scorching MotorLand Aragon, with Dovizioso setting the first sub 1:48 laptime of the weekend and Crutchlow quickly following suit. However, with fresh soft rear rubber, six-time World Champion Marquez soon marked ‘his’ territory – with a 1:47.382 putting him 0.453 faster than the rest. Lorenzo, meanwhile, had dropped to outside the top ten but on his final lap of FP2, the Spaniard turned up the wick to launch himself into P2 to finish the day 0.138 behind Marquez.

Behind the top four, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone put his GSX-RR into fifth as the day came to a close, with the Italian the only other rider to venture into the 1:47s as he led for the majority of FP2. After finishing P2 in FP1 as part of Ducati’s early domination, Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) had to settle for sixth in the second session and ended Friday just behind Iannone.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) had a much-improved afternoon in his penultimate home race before retirement. The ‘Little Samurai’ was 18th and 1.9 seconds off in FP1 but managed to find some speed at a track he’s got a good record at and he took seventh overall. Compatriot Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) was another home hero in the top ten and he continued his rich vein of form to complete the opening day at MotorLand in P8.

Rounding out the provisional Q2 places were the two Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders: Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales. Can the Yamahas bridge the gap to the front on Saturday and stay in that top ten at a more difficult venue than Misano? Make sure you tune into FP3 at 09:55 local time on Saturday, with qualifying commencing at 14:10.

Schrötter the benchmark to beat

Marcel Schrötter ends Day 1 at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon at the top of the combined timesheets thanks to his FP1 time of 1:58.570, with the Dynavolt Intact GP rider once again unleashing some serious pace on Friday. The German took his first podium last time out at Misano, and he’s picked up somewhat where he left off. Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) was quickest in FP2 but unable to beat the benchmark, with Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) rounding out the top three.

Marquez was the only rider inside the top six to improve his time in the second session of the day, just 0.058 off Bagnaia’s quickest in FP2 to end Friday 0.272 off the benchmark. Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors) sits fourth on the combined timesheets after finishing third fastest in FP1 and tenth in FP2 – a good day’s work for the British rider who heads into Saturday as the leading KTM.

Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up) was edged into fifth overall, with Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) sixth on board his Kalex machine. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) did manage to better his FP1 time in the afternoon to end FP2 in third but it wa seventh overall for the South African, with Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) having a solid Friday to end the day eighth on the combined times.

Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2’s Simone Corsi vastly improved from P18 in the morning to go P9 on the overall times, finishing just 0.019 ahead of Championship protagonist Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who was tenth.

The intermediate class will be back out for FP3 before the all-important qualifying battle begins at 15:05 local time (GMT +2).

Bastianini bolts to the top on Friday

Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) ends Friday at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon as the fastest rider in the Moto3™ field after pulling out two tenths on Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider). Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) moved up to take third on his final lap to lock the Spaniards out of the top three on their home turf.

Bastianini ended FP1 in eighth place, but the number 33 looked in supreme form after putting in consecutive fastest laps towards the end of FP2, eventually setting his best time on his final lap as Rodrigo maintained his P2 from FP1 to round off a very solid opening day.

Bulega displaced Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) for third at the end of the FP2 session, with the Spaniard setting his lap times on his own to finish fourth on the combined timesheets. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) rounds out the top five on Friday despite finishing the morning session outside the top 20, with Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) stringing a strong last run together to claw himself up the combined timesheets to fifth.

Misano winner Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) ends the opening day at MotorLand Aragon in seventh, with Kazuki Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) eighth fastest after an impressive day for the Japanese rookie. The morning’s pacesetter had been Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) and he was the only rider in the top 20 who failed to improve his time in the afternoon. It was ninth overall for the Czech rider after a crash in FP1, with teammate and Championship contender Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the top ten.

The lightweight class will be back on track for FP3 first thing on Saturday before qualifying begins at 12:35 local time (GMT +2).