Ai Ogura (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) proved he means business at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya as he took full control of Friday morning's Practice 1 session. The Honda Team Asia rider put in consistently fast laps to control the session from the top, setting a 1:44.804 towards the end to secure P1. Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) kept himself consistently within the top three and finished the session just 0.002s shy of Ogura. Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) also proved he has strong pace around the Barcelona circuit as he took his Boscoscuro machine to P3 just 0.018s off the pace
🔥 @AiOgura79 tops P1 by just 0.002s @37_pedroacosta and @AlonsoLopez_21 follow VERY closely! 👀#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/iYgArREkUh
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 1, 2023
With the top four covered by just 0.058s, it's anyone's guess as to who is the rider to beat on Sunday. Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) is keeping his chances alive as the Valencian put in a strong series of laps to take P4. Fresh from signing a brand-new deal that will see him rejoin forces with the American Racing squad, Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) is looking comfortable as he rounded out the top five. Meanwhile, Tony Arbolino's (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team) claimed P9 to kickstart his Catalan GP.
There's still plenty to play for in Moto2™ however! Can Arbolino find the form to stop Acosta's Championship charge? Make sure to tune in as the story unfolds with Practice 2 at 14:05 local time (GMT +2).
Top 10
| 1 | Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) | 1:44.804 |
| 2 | Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +0.002 |
| 3 | Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up Racing) | +0.018 |
| 4 | Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) | +0.058 |
| 5 | Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) | +0.157 |
| 6 | Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) | +0.356 |
| 7 | Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +0.372 |
| 8 | Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) | +0.431 |
| 9 | Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) | +0.458 |
| 10 | Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) | +0.624 |
FULL RESULTS
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