A dominant afternoon in the books for Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) with the Spaniard more than four tenths clear of the opposition and leading the MotoGP field into Sprint Saturday at Balaton Park. A perfect Friday at the Hungarian GP saw the KTM star ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) as the chequered flag fell on Friday at Balaton Park.
FIRST HALF: the dice begins to roll
As the field rolled out of pitlane, the clock started ticking down for the all-important top 10 placings to be decided ahead of Saturday action. Enjoying a good stint at the top, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was leading the way as he continues to get back to full fitness and acclimatised to MotoGP. On the halfway mark of the session, Acosta took himself into P1, the #37 really gelling with Balaton Park on Friday having been third in the morning behind Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), who after being P1 in FP1, was second with 25 minutes on the clock.
IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED: shock, surprises and more
Getting down into the final 20 minutes, one of the big surprises came in the shape of Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), with the WorldSBK super sub putting together a lap that saw him go P9. Soon enough, others also followed suit with the likes of Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR), Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and teammate Enea Bastianini getting themselves into Q2 spots. Aldeguer was back inside the top two places whilst the likes of Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) were in need of a lap.
FINAL 5 MINUTES: time to push for Q2 spots
It was all to play for as we approached the chequered flag approached; Marini got himself provisionally into P7 whilst Pecco was P8. Moreira, who was briefly out of the top ten, retaliated with sixth whereas for Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), it was all over as the South African crashed when he was set to move into the top ten. There were late improvements from Di Giannantonio to go second and Fernandez to go third but nobody could lay a glove on Acosta, setting a 1’36.827 to see ‘The Shark’ lead into the rest of the weekend as the rider to beat.
FRIDAY TOP 10: battle on at Balaton
Acosta set the only 1’36 of the weekend and has a margin of over four tenths of a second back to ‘Diggia’ in second; Fernandez finished Friday as he started it with a P3, making it three different teams and manufacturers inside the top three. Aldeguer was a solid fourth ahead of Ogura and Bezzecchi whilst Marc Marquez clinched seventh. The top ten was completed by Moreira, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) who made it all four Aprilias directly into Q2 and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), with ‘Thriller’ putting in a late lap for tenth overall.
HOTLY CONTESTED Q1: plenty of stars and World Champions down field
Close but not enough for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who was 11th, just 0.054s ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP). Bagnaia was only 14th, one place ahead of Bastianini and then Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) who was 16th; teammate Marini was 13th. Lecuona’s surprise charge for a Q2 placing ended with him in 17th but just under three tenths away from Miller in P10.
MotoGP Practice results at Balaton Park!