Recapping MotoGP/2/3 action from Jerez on Friday

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Four – Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España
Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto – Friday
MotoGP Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“We focused a lot on what didn’t work well in the last races and we made plenty of data analysis. The team did a huge work before this Grand Prix and together we planned today’s schedule as if it was a test – and it worked. We managed to find a solution to most things with three runs left – the last with used tyres – and I’m very happy; we really needed it as I had missed this type of feeling. It still won’t be easy, even in this new situation, but at least we have the potential to be able to battle with much more confidence.”

Maverick Vinales – P2

“I found an outstanding feeling from the very first lap. It’s incredible to be able to ride like this in Jerez. I can take the bike to its limit and I’m really having a lot of fun. Exploiting the bike’s potential is important and we did that to the utmost today. I was surprised at my race pace because we improved by almost one second compared with last year. The bike is spectacular. There are obviously some small things to improve but overall I am extremely satisfied.”

Marc Marquez – P3

“We worked on the base set-up from the previous GP and things went well straight away. I struggled a bit more with the wind in the afternoon but I can say we’re in a good place, even though so many riders are fast, too. We’re losing a bit at turn five and in the final sector but one thing is for sure: the adaptation process with the Ducati machine is over, now it is time to do some fine tuning in order to race with the best. We keep working session after session and qualifying is next.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P4

“I’m quite happy, we’ve made a positive step forward. It helped me a lot that the track here has less grip and the bike naturally turns better. We finished two solid sessions, it’s a shame about the crash, I was perhaps a little too generous. The bike is ok, there is still something missing in the middle of the corner, especially in T3, but I feel good when braking, especially with the soft tire at the rear. We have a good base to fully exploit, it’s the first time I’ve felt so comfortable. The pace isn’t bad, I have to check the data but I’m satisfied.”

Pedro Acosta – P6

“It is never easy to arrive with a MotoGP bike on a new circuit, there are many things to focus on and to understand before the Practice on Friday afternoons. In the end we can be happy because we worked a bit on the pace with the tyres, and we did a good lap time without making too many mistakes, and it has helped us heading to Saturday in a good way. We are happy, let’s continue the work!”

Aleix Espargaro – P7

“In Portimão and in America, I wasn’t competitive enough but here I feel like I am much stronger. The bike is working extremely well, I’m fast, and with the medium tyre I’m one of the fastest. I’m pleased; I’m not far behind the others. We need to figure out how to keep the front tyre from overheating so we don’t have a repeat of what happened last year.”

Enea Bastianini – P8

“It didn’t go as well as we’d hoped, and the reason is sector three. I need to try and make a step forward in this part of the track, even though this is an area where I’ve struggled also in the past – so there’s clearly something I’m doing wrong. I feel quite good in the rest of the track so I’m happy. I did a lot of laps with medium tyres while trying a few things and in the end, it wasn’t so bad. The soft tyre surely works better: I didn’t lap as much with it but I saw the pace other riders have and they’re clearly strong. Surely it’ll be the best option for the sprint race, but I’m not too sure it’ll be the same for the full-distance race. Tomorrow’s FP2 will be crucial to improve ahead of qualifying and the two races.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P9

“An excellent Friday, perhaps one of the best since the beginning of the year, I’m very happy. This morning I had a good feeling, I wasn’t perfect on the time attack. There was a bit of traffic and then the yellow flag, but I’m not worried, Q2 was the objective. For tomorrow I feel good, I hope there won’t be any weather tricks, I would prefer a dry Saturday. Having Vale in the garage was really cool, a great honor: I saw him on the track, then after the session. I gave it my all, I was afraid of making a bad impression.”

Alex Marquez – P10

“Too bad for the afternoon crash and especially for the traffic encountered during the time attack, otherwise we would have been much higher in the practice timesheets. We needed to recover the feeling and the confidence, and we did it. To be racing in front of the home crowd obviously helps in being fast straight away from the morning. We need to be as close as we can to the front of the grid because it’s not easy to overtake here, so our full focus is now on tomorrow’s qualifying.”

Alex Rins – P15

“There were many, many crashes today. I don’t know why. But, overall, for us, it was a day with many problems on the bike. We are still struggling with the same problems we had in the last few races. It’s so difficult to turn the bike. We tried different things, but still the main problem is the same. I tried to follow someone in the last minutes of this last practice and was able to make a comparison. We need to try something more for tomorrow. But we’re trying a little bit of everything. We’ll also check on Monday if the new testing items can help us turn.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P16

“I’m happy with today’s performance despite our difficulties. We planned to get to the 1’36, and we did it in the afternoon. Although there is still work to do, we are taking small steps, and that’s the most important. We are never giving up!”

Raul Fernandez – P17

“The track was a bit sensitive today, so many riders crashed; I guess it was just part of the game. Today we had a lot of work to do as we were trying three different settings on the bike for the future, but I came back to my normal setting. However, I’m happy because we understand what happened but at the same time I’m not satisfied because on Fridays we are not able to quickly understand the track conditions and how the bike behaves. We have to work a lot in the afternoon, so we need to think about what we can do for the next GPs to anticipate all of that – I think it’s very important. We saw this before the time attack; we have three or four exits and in these few runs, it’s not easy to understand the bike, the setting, the electronics and the track and how everything works together. It’s a process and we need to analyse and understand what we can do to improve that aspect. Our bike is working well, I’m really happy with my bike, but the Friday is always a big challenge for us.”

Johann Zarco – P18

“I had a good lap time today. I missed my last lap, but we worked well overall. After the crash, I understood some things, and we improved in the afternoon. From the last race to this weekend, we’ve confirmed some ideas, and this is positive, as it gives me a better feeling on the track.”

Miguel Oliveira – P19

“Today hasn’t been easy. As soon as we fitted the soft rear, we felt like the balance of the bike was a bit strange, especially on the braking points, it was like too much rear contact. The rear was pushing the front and that’s exactly why I crashed. There’s nothing really wrong with it but it was quite a frustrating afternoon, especially because the pace was not there. We lacked a lot of the speed needed to even challenge to get into the top 10. The lap times are already quite competitive and we just haven’t been fast enough. The good thing is, the team is able to analyse good data from Maverick (Viñales) and Aleix (Espargaro) and hopefully we can go forward tomorrow.”

Fabio Quartararo – P20

“I was struggling on turning, just like Álex, and I think we are looking a bit too much into breaking areas and are missing a lot on turning. I tried the hard front, but I locked the front straight away in Turn 7. Then, we tried something with the soft tyres, but it didn’t go really well. Then, on the last time attack, we made some mistakes. But, anyway, the main issue is the turning, and that one thing is what’s making our life complicated. I want to check the data from the previous year, check deeply what the difference is, and then make a plan from there.”

Joan Mir – P21

“Today was along the lines of what we were expecting after the first races. We are struggling with turning here unfortunately. We were able to make a good change with the setup of the bike in the afternoon and I feel like we can do a mid 36 – it’s a realistic goal with a bit here and a bit there. I felt better in the afternoon and I think this time is a realistic goal so let’s work with the team for it.”

Augusto Fernandez – P22

“I have a small injury on the finger and it felt more painful today than what I had expected, so today was really difficult for us. I need to take care of my hand, we will continue working on it tonight, because I am missing a bit of strength. Hopefully tomorrow it will get better, and we can be in better form.”

Stefan Bradl – P23

“It’s a good feeling to be back riding with the rest of the MotoGP field, this helps to keep you sharp as a test rider and is also very beneficial to be on track with the other bikes. Like always, in the Test Team we are working on our things and have to have one eye on the race weekend and one eye on the future. We have started well and now we need to keep making more steps on Saturday and Sunday.”

Luca Marini – P24

“The weekend has started in a similar way to the previous ones, maybe we were expecting a little bit more with the layout. We need to work on closing the gap, especially with new tyres because the other riders are able to make a gap there. Taka was strong today so it gives us something to look at and study overnight to make some more improvements. There are things to do and things to try.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P25

“Seeing Maverick and Aleix out front is definitely a source of pride for all of us. That is precisely the goal: to consistently see Aprilia at the front and to keep growing the way we are.”

Friday Report

It was a hard battle for the top 10 in MotoGP Practice at the Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España as the shootout for direct entry to Q2 went down to the wire, setting the stage for a truly super Saturday.

By the end of play, a top three split by only 0.143 had emerged: reigning Champion Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), COTA winner Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

For Bagnaia, it was a day to test things out on the bike followed by a shiny new lap record; for Viñales, a crash early on before a lap that initially put him top; and for Marquez, just one sector that stood between him and the fastest lap of the day. All three were under the previous lap record too, not just Bagnaia, and that teases plenty of action on Saturday even before the full cast of characters are brought onto the stage.

Despite a crash at turn one at the beginning of the session, Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing) fought back to fourth in the final 10 minutes of the day, with he and team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio both having a positive Friday and ‘Diggia’ also through to Q2 in P9.

Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is fifth on Friday, but it’s a four-tenth gap to the top he’s looking to bridge in Q2, and he’s got some company he’d likely rather escape right behind him: Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3). The rookie sensation was outside the top 10 heading into the final run but jumped up to sixth at the end of the day, after earlier running round in tandem with MotoGP Legend and wildcard Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) too.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was seventh as he looks to get back on a par with Viñales at a track that saw the #41 take pole last year, making it both factory Aprilias securing a spot in Q2.

Second in the Championship Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) set a 1:36.480 for P8 – improving on his pace from the morning Free Practice session – but he’ll want more on Saturday.

Behind the aforementioned Diggia, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) is the final rider heading straight through. That means there are a few fast and famous faces ready to do battle in a star-studded Q1.

One of the most famous is probably Pedrosa, as he was P14 at the end of play. And the most desperate to get through is probably team-mate Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who finished up P11 after a crash near the end of PR when he was setting red sectors. Barring any bad luck or trouble, the South African would seem a safe bet for moving up from Q1.

KTM team-mate Jack Miller looks to do the same, ending Friday in P13, and Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) wants to ruin the party for them all. The Italian, who missed pre-season through injury, is really getting there on pace and put in a convincing Friday in Jerez, in the upper echelons of the time-sheets until getting pushed down to P12 by the end of the decisive PR session.

Erstwhile master of Jerez Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in P20 too, and will aim for a big step on Saturday after teammate Alex Rins turned the tables on Day 1, taking P15 and four-tenths up the road.

MotoGP Practice Times

MotoGP Free Practice One Times

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) rocketed to the top spot at the end of Friday action in Jerez as the American continued to show strong pace at the Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España, setting a strong 1:40.664 to end Practice 1 ahead of pre-season favourite Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) by 0.234. Race winner at COTA and Championship leader Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) rounded out the top three after a brilliant session for the #3.

Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) capped off a great opening day for American Racing, finding pace late in the session to set a 1:40.964. Ramirez was ahead of Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI), who showed strong pace in the early stages of the session, rounding out the top five. Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2), Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) and Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp).

Albert Arenas (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2), CFMOTO Aspar Team’s Izan Guevara, Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Aspar Team), Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Filip Salac (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Barry Baltus (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP ), who took the final place inside the top 14, are currently the final riders set to move through to Q2.

Senna Agius finished the opening day 16th, 12 positions ahead of team-mate Darryn Binder.

It was a tough day in the office for Aron Canet (Fantic Racing), who crashed at the end of the session and was later declared unfit with a broken ankle. He’ll have to watch on as the Moto2 grid head back on track on Saturday morning.

Moto2 Free Practice Times

Moto2 Practice One Times

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) dominated Day 1 at the Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España, setting an incredible 1:43.710 to destroy a lap record which had just been set by the Colombian on Friday morning.

Alonso was almost a second clear of rookie Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), with Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) only a further 0.083 adrift on a very impressive Friday for the Dutchman.

Jacob Roulstone – P2

“I have felt quite comfortable on the bike today, although my fastest lap was not the cleanest, which I am a bit annoyed with, but overall we did a great job with the team. Since the morning, we had a plan, worked through it and on ourselves, and I believed that it paid off in Practice 1. The gap is still big with David Alonso, we still have a few issues to solve, but I felt good with the medium tyres today, and I think that we are in a good position for tomorrow.”

Finding time in the afternoon session was Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), who jumped to fourth position, ending the session ahead of the returning David Almansa (Rivacold Snipers Team), who found time in the final sector on a final fast lap to round out the top five.

Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports), last year’s race winner Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI), Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power), BOE Motorsports’ David Muñoz, Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA), Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team’s rookie Joel Esteban and Scott Ogden (MLav Racing) round out the top 14 currently set to move straight to Q2.

Moto3 Free Practice Times

Moto3 Practice One Times

Moto3 Championship Standings

Jerez MotoGP Schedule AEST

2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)