Catch me if you can says World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) at the end of Friday’s running in Aragon. The #93’s 1:46.397 was plenty good enough to see him finish 0.204s clear of title rival Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), as Maverick Viñales sticks his Red Bull KTM Tech3 machine inside the top three to sit 0.556s adrift of Marc Marquez heading into Saturday.
How the race for a Friday top 10 played out
Heading into the pointy end of the session, Marc Marquez led the way by 0.4s over compatriot Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), with another KTM completing the provisional top three –Viñales. That four tenth gap changed dramatically with just over 12 minutes to go as the #93 slammed home a 1:46.397 – a whopping 1.1s quicker than second place Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Acosta chopped the disadvantage down to 0.7s, with Alex Marquez the only other rider at this stage able to get within a second of the Championship leader. Simply sensational from Marc Marquez.
Viñales then joined the ‘within a second of Marc Marquez club’ with 10 minutes to go, before Alex Marquez climbed to P2 with a 1:46.907 – 0.5s away from his title rival and brother. And while a pair of Ducatis sat P1 and P2, Bagnaia was P10 with eight minutes left on the clock – work to do for the double MotoGP title winner.
On his next run, Bagnaia clocked a 1:47.292 to briefly go P5, before Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) set his Friday best to go P4. Pecco did respond on his next lap though to climb back to P4, as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) struggled - to put it politely - to find rear grip.
The back-to-back-to-back polesitter was P18 with just over a minute to go, and after losing time in sector three, there would be no improvement – Q1 beckons for El Diablo, a disaster of a day in Aragon for Yamaha in general.
Aragon’s automatic Q2 qualifiers
Behind the leading trio, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) set a fantastic late lap to earn P4 and direct Q2 entry, that’s the 2020 World Champion’s best Friday result with HRC, as Acosta made it two KTMs inside the top five. Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) ended the day in a positive P6, and speaking of positive, Binder sails into Q2 in P7. That's three KTMs heading straight into Q2 for the first time since the 2024 Catalan GP.
Rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was another rider to leap into the top 10 towards the end of the session, the #54 was P8 ahead of Pecco and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) – the latter the final Q2 qualifier on Friday.
A high-profile Q1
Aldeguer and Morbidelli’s final flying laps cost Silverstone winner Bezzecchi a top 10 place, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) also losing out late on. All five Yamahas, including Quartararo as mentioned, face the jungle that is Q1.
Up next: Tissot Sprint Saturday
Can anyone stop Marc Marquez in Aragon? We’ll find out tomorrow as we look ahead to qualifying and the Tissot Sprint in Aragon.