It’s been a wonderful Saturday so far for Aprilia Racing at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina as Aleix Espargaro leads teammate Maverick Viñales into qualifying. Espargaro’s 1:38.244 was 0.2s quicker than Viñales’ effort, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) pinched P3 on his last flying lap as some big hitters miss out on an automatic Q2 place.
Can anyone stop Aprilia? Huge Q1 coming up
Plenty of crucial laps were slotted in during the extended 60-minute session on Saturday afternoon for FP2, but the final 10 minutes was where to top 10 shootout action happened. Aprilia Racing were sitting pretty in P1 and P2, but heading into the final five minutes, the likes of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and World Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) were sitting outside the all-important top 10 – among many others.
A dramatic conclusion to FP2! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 2, 2022
It's an Aprilia 1-2 at the head of it! ????#ArgentinaGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/qP3m8sqVXy
Both a frustrated Pecco and equally frustrated Bastianini didn’t find a way into the top 10, as a Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) crash at Turn 1 forced some riders immediately behind to abort their final laps, including Bastianini.
The Q2 qualifiers
World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) is P4 ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in fifth – the South African suffered a mechanical issue with one of his RC16s in FP2. Alex Rins leads teammate Joan Mir as the Team Suzuki Ecstar duo sail into Q2, they’re P6 and P7 respectively, as a trio of Ducatis make up the top 10 – Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing stablemate Johann Zarco, and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).
The late drama for @PeccoBagnaia! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 2, 2022
One of the big hitters, he finds himself having to go through Q1! ????#ArgentinaGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/0BAEHgOX1n
Qualifying is coming up! A huge couple of 15-minute sessions await.
Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) and Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) all crashed at Turn 1 in FP2, riders ok.
Top 10:
1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) – 1:38.244
2. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.210
3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.219
4. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.227
5. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.304
6. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.375
7. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.382
8. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.460
9. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.553
10. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.671