Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) began his Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España in fine fashion as his untouched Practice 1 time of a 1:41.170 secured Day 1 honours for the Brit. With the temperatures rising significantly in the afternoon, the track became slick in Practice 2, and the riders were unable to improve on their P1 times. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) put the hammer down in P1 to take 2nd place with the top 3 holding strong on their P1 efforts. With the order unchanged it was Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) who enjoyed a solid start to his home Grand Prix in P3.
Lowes did suffer a crash as the day began to draw to a close, but the job had been done and the Brit ended the day as top dog. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) also took a trip to the gravel with 30 minutes remaining of P2, but the Spaniard quickly got his Kalex KTM machine back on circuit to finish the first day of his home Grand Prix in P4.
This time turn 2 catches out @37_pedroacosta ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 28, 2023
No problems though as he already rejoined on track ????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/ysJajN8GTx
Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) rounded out the top 5 just ahead of Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los40) finishing the day in 8th place following a small crash at the final corner during P2.
Moto2™ will be back in action on Saturday for Practice 3 at 9:25 and qualifying at 13:45 local (GMT +1).
Top 10:
1. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – 1:41.170
2. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.230
3. Alonso Lopez (CAG SpeedUp) + 0.319
4. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.327
5. Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar M2) + 0.464
6. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.737
7. Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) + 0.793
8. Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) + 0.848
9. Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP) + 0.921
10. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.930