This Spanish Grand Prix was merciless for the championship favorites as evidenced by the presence of VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi, its provisional leader, and Ducati official Pecco Bagnaia, the reigning world champion, in Q1 Saturday to follow. The VR46, however, saves the honor with Luca Marini who will go directly to Q2 thanks to his tenth position. All this before the arrival of boss Valentino Rossi who, a long time ago, made the Jerez route his garden…
Marco Bezzecchi closed the first day of free practice of the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth stage of the 2023 World Championship, with the twelfth best time, while his teammate Luca marini did better by two places. An essential gap since it puts the latter directly into Q2... Immediately at ease on the Ducati Desmosedici GP during the morning session, the boss's half-brother suffered from the rise in temperatures in the afternoon, but his morning timer kept him in the right car…
« It wasn't a perfect day with a really small gap in the rankings » says the man who reached his first MotoGP podium at the end of the latest race in Austin. “ I was strong during the first free practices and I didn't want to risk another tire in the afternoon for a second time attack. I was lucky and stayed tenth ».
« I didn't get along very well with the midrange in the back, which is the race tire here, because the bike had no grip, it was slipping and not turning as I would have liked. This is the aspect we need to work on the most going forward. All the teams, especially the factory ones, have a lot of data from the test riders who rode here a few weeks ago, so the level is incredibly high. In any case, I'm happy because, even without being perfect, we are in Q2. Tomorrow, qualifying will be crucial » he adds.
Marco Bezzecchi VR46: “ a technical problem complicated everything »
To Bezzecchi, the day was more complicated, notably with a technical problem which neutralized his Ducati. “ This morning I wasn't perfect, I had a little trouble. I didn't feel comfortable braking and I wasn't fast » says the championship leader. “ But in the afternoon session we took a big step forward. I had a good pace with the worn, medium and soft tires, but a technical problem complicated everything ».
He specifies : " for the hunt for the time, I was not able to take the track with moto 1, my favorite. I used 2 which was set up very similar to the first session and couldn't make it to Q2. I'm not far from the leaders, but tomorrow I will have to go through Q1 ". Where he will meet in particular Pecco Bagnaia, Alex Rins, Brad Binder or even fabio quartararo...
Combined P1-P2 results from the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
