MotoGP Aragon FP1 LIVE: Fall and provisional pole position for Aleix Espargaro, Top 12 for Marc Márquez!

The MotoGP World Championship arrives at the Motorland Aragon circuit, in Spain, for the 15th meeting of a season which includes 20. It is marked by the meteoric rise of Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) which has just scored the maximum 100 points in the last four events before facing the leader and defending champion in Alcaniz fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who is only 30 points ahead of the Italian. And, on paper, this trend could well continue since on the one hand the Ducati rider won in Aragon last year and on the other hand this circuit is one of the least appreciated in the championship by El Diablo. If this were not enough to show the dangerousness of the Borgo Panigale spearhead, another statistic is quite evocative: Francis Bagnaia has won 10 of the last 20 Grands Prix!

We can note that this war declared between the two men who had already fought for the championship last year has gone up a notch since then, since fabio quartararo won the title with 234 points last season and already has 211 with six events remaining in the season…

Dance what contexts, Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), although only 3 points behind Francis Bagnaia, seems a little behind recently but could take advantage of this Grand Prix in the Iberian Peninsula to bounce back to the forefront.

Anyway, fabio quartararo will fly to Japan at the top of the championship regardless of its lead, large or small, in a news also marked by the return of the child prodigy Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), absent since the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Despite missing six races, the number 93 is still the best Honda rider classified in the championship and his impatience to shine again is beyond doubt, despite his reasonable and cautious statements made at the end of the official MotoGP test in Misano a year ago barely a week...
We only hope that the Spanish champion does what he says, that is to say, takes the time not to torture his body!

Another comeback during this Aragon Grand Prix, Joan mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will find its Suzuki GSX–RR driven by kazuki watanabe in Misano, following his highside in Austria. Unfortunately, this seems a return without much challenge since the announcement of the withdrawal from competition at the end of the season by the management of Hamamatsu, even if the Suzuki rider was on the podium here last year.

We will also note the return of Cal Crutchlow to replace Andrea Dovizioso retired...

In terms of weather, no rain is expected this weekend near Alcaniz and conditions should be almost optimal despite the region still being a little windy...

While waiting to discover more, as the 24 drivers prepare for this first 45-minute free practice session in the dry, with temperatures of 21° in the air and 26° on the ground, let's take advantage of these some live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here are the past references:

Aragon MotoGP™	2021	2022
FP1	1'48.048 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'48.686 Aleix Espargaro (See here)
FP2	1'47.613 Jack Miller (See here)	(See here)
FP3	1'46.926 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	(See here)
FP4	1'48.116 Marc Marquez (See here)	(See here)
Q1	1'47.293 Johann Zarco (See here)	(See here)
Q2	1'46.322 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Warm up	1'48.054 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Course	Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Joan Mir (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'46.322 Francesco Bagnaia (2021)

When the red lights go out... Franco Morbidelli continues the tradition session on the first, fabio quartararo the last, while Marc Marquez remains the attraction of the day.

In terms of tires, the soft front and the medium rear are popular, even if there are a few exceptions.

George Martin recorded the first reference in 1'50.471 at the end of the first lap launched in front Jack Miller et fabio quartararo.

In the next passage, it is Alex Espargaro who sets the pace in 1'49.349 ahead Fabio Quartararo et Jack Miller.

George Martin does not stop there and takes back command before conceding it to his teammate John Zarco in 1'48.882 in the third flying lap.

One more round and it's Francis Bagnaia who took the lead in 1'48.698 while Joan Mir is having an eventful return to school...

After fifteen minutes, Alex Espargaro concludes this first salvo in 1'48.686 ahead Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, Enea Bastianini, Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Fabio Quartararo, Marc Márquez, Jorge Martin, Luca Marini, Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, Cal Crutchlow, Pol Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Márquez , Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Darryn Binder and Remy Gardner.

Eighth and still best Honda driver after this first run, Marc Márquez has lost none of his talent...

On resumption, Alex Espargaro fall at turn #16 without apparent gravity.

In the wake, alex rins places his Suzuki in third position in the provisional ranking, Takaaki Nakagami in the sixth grade.

fabio quartararo left with the new chassis but was surprised and had to go through the gravel. Franco Morbidelli takes the opportunity to get back in the Frenchman's wake in the session rankings while Cal Crutchlow, which does not benefit from the new chassis, does not demerit by being 7/10 from the fastest.

10 minutes from the end of the session, the first sectors start to light up red although no one is using a soft rear tire...

Takaaki Nakagami, poleman in 2020, progresses to 4th position, just behind alex rinsthen Brad Binder jumps to 4th place, but in the end, no one improves the entire timeAlex Espargaro despite the final attempt toEnea Bastianini who obtains the 7th position.

After his mistake during the starting tests, Alex Espargaro will he be penalized with a Long Lap as was Celestine Vietti at Silverstone?

MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix FP1 results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com