It was a mixed Friday morning at the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon for Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro, who set the pace in MotoGP™ FP1 but also had a painful crash. Riding not too far from home turf, Espargaro clocked a 1:48.686s on medium compound Michelin slick tyres during his first run, and that would prove to be the very fastest lap of the session. However, Aprilia’s ‘Captain’ then had a spill at Turn 16 at the start of his second run, adding a sore left knee to the finger fracture which he sustained in last week’s Misano Official Test. Fortunately, he was able to hop back on a bike and accumulate some more mileage later in FP1, although then there was another mishap in the form of what looked like a ride height device issue during his practice start at the end of proceedings.
Just as it all looked like it was going perfectly to plan ????@AleixEspargaro meets a bump in the road! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 16, 2022
After a quick hobble, thankfully Aleix was able to get back on the bike ????#AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/cwHORopO2f
The Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia finished just 0.012 seconds slower as he seeks to make it five race wins in a row this weekend. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins was third on a 1:48.775, LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami took fourth on a 1:48.862, and Prima Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco claimed fifth with a 1:48.882 on his Ducati – five manufacturers in the top five, separated by less than two tenths of a second! It could have been six in the top six had Brad Binder not had a late flyer cancelled for a breach of track limits, but his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Miguel Oliveira did take seventh all-told on a 1:49.005.
With teams having tested at Misano just days ago, there was a lot to keep an eye out for in the opening session at Aragon. World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) rolled out a new YZR-M1 chassis and concentrated on a long run programme as he took eighth on a 1:49.085. Along the way, ‘El Diablo’ had an off at the Reverse Corkscrew but no harm was done. There was also plenty of attention on another World Champion, with the Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez notching up 18 laps in his first Free Practice session since May’s Italian Grand Prix, his personal-best time of 1:49.207 leaving #93 in 11th on the timesheet.
Almost like @marcmarquez93 never left ✊#AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/pyVONmcseV
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 16, 2022
After a fascinating FP1, make sure you catch FP2 later on Friday from 14:10 (GMT +2)!
MotoGP™ FP1 Top 10:
1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) – 1:48.686
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.012
3. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.089
4. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.176
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.196
6. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.205
7. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.319
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.399
9. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.402
10. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.484