Aleix Espargaró led Friday practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, beating his Aprilia teammate Maverick Viñales in combined times by 0.303 seconds. Espargaró arrives at his home race after four consecutive podium finishes, standing out as the strongest driver on Friday.
For this reason, many are betting on the Aprilia as the favourite, because the grip is very reminiscent of that of Argentina, where Espargaró took home the victory: “In my opinion, it’s even worse here, but it’s not easy to say. It was a very good day for them, because Aprilia is very fast when there is little grip, but Aleix seemed more competitive in Termas”.
“I was surprised at the beginning,” insisted Pecco Bagnaia, who was fourth overall on Friday, when asked about Aprilia’s speed during this day.
The Ducati rider seems convinced that he has done a good job today, although, for now, he sees Aleix Espargaró and Aprilia one step ahead of all the competition.
“Right now I see Aleix Espargaró two or three tenths stronger than the others, but it must also be said that he did two stints on the new tyres, using both medium and soft, then there is a group of many other riders like Fabio Quartararo, Enea Bastianini and Maverick, who have a very similar pace.”
“The tire is very important here, so it won’t be easy to choose the rear one, but we’ll see if the work we do tomorrow in FP4 leads us to be safer,” he added.
“Especially the first few laps are very strong [in Aprilia], although they already rode this year on this track with the street bike. So, it’s a small advantage, but I’m sure Aprilia in a low-grip situation is also very competitive” .
Pecco Bagnnaia is quite happy with the pace he has set today, although he sees Aleix Espargaró and Aprilia slightly ahead on a track with little grip like Barcelona, given that the strength of the RS-GP is traction.
“They [Aprilia] have very good traction. It’s something I’ve seen all year. But on this track they can make more of a difference because on the rest, the grip is less. But I really don’t know. that bike.”
“The tarmac gets worse every year, so it’s really difficult to be fast in the corners and also in the braking. At the moment we are quite at the limit, but if the situation got worse it would be a problem, at the moment you can’t force it. any time, in the race it will not be easy at all”, said the Italian driver.
