Jorge Martin sets fastest time of the day on Friday just ahead of Fabio Quartararo – Marc Marquez tries the new Kalex swingarm and is back in the top 10
Ducati flexed their muscles again in the qualifying attempt in the second free practice session at MotorLand Aragon (Spain). Jorge Martin (Pramac) set the best time ahead of World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). Marc Marquez (Honda) was back in the top 10 on his comeback.
In the afternoon session, all the riders started with the hard front and medium rear tyres. This is probably also the preferred combination for Sunday’s race, as the weather is expected to remain late summer beautiful throughout the weekend.
The Yamaha duo Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli continued with the new chassis. Honda initially stuck with the familiar carbon swingarm. But for the second attempt Marc Marquez went out with the new aluminium swingarm from Kalex and stayed with it too.
In the Ducati camp, “development rider” Johann Zarco continued to work for the future. Both his bikes were set up with a new chassis from the Misano test. His brand colleagues rode the tried and tested version.
A second crash of the day for @AleixEspargaro!
It’s not very often we see that! AragonGP pic.twitter.com/5TTEN7nkHZ
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 16, 2022
The practice session did not start well for Aleix Espargaro. The Aprilia rider crashed in his first run in turn 14. At the entrance of the chicane his front wheel had slipped away. Already in the morning, Aleix Espargaro had a crash in the finish bend.
Before the time chase started with soft tyres in the last ten minutes, the top seven were within two tenths of a second. That was Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Quartararo, Luca Marini (VR46-Ducati), Aleix Espargaro, Marc Marquez and Takaaki Nakagagami (LCR-Honda).
Time chase at the end
The classification changed completely in the qualifying trials. Martin catapulted to the top with 1:47.402 minutes. Quartararo was only 0.074 seconds slower in second. This showed that the M1 works in Aragon. But in the race the long straight could become a problem.
With Zarco, Enea Bastianini (Gresini) and Bagnaia the next three Ducati riders followed in third, fourth and fifth. Alex Rins was in the mix with the Suzuki in sixth. Vinales was the faster of the two Aprilia riders in seventh.
Aluminium swingarm fitted! ✅@marcmarquez93 heads out to test it here too after trying it in Misano AragonGP pic. twitter.com/NB4glzewJN
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 16, 2022
Marc Marquez was immediately in the top 10 on his comeback. His flying lap was 0.359 seconds off Martin. However, the eight-time world champion had a slide in the finish corner on that lap. He had to close the throttle to avoid a highsider.
The top 10 was completed by two more Ducati riders, Jack Miller and Marini. Despite the five-kilometre track, the time gaps in the field were as close as usual. In eleventh place, Nakagami was exactly half a second behind.
The best KTM rider was Brad Binder in twelfth. Aleix Espargaro ended his day in 13th after the two crashes. Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow, who has taken over from Andrea Dovizioso at RNF, made his comeback in 19th.
Two big names were to be found far behind. Joan Mir (Suzuki), returning after a one race break (ankle injury), was 1.2 seconds back. That made him 21st and Pol Espargaro was by far the slowest Honda rider in penultimate place.