The leader takes it easy on the first day of training in Valencia as the Italian company’s army acts as a stop for Quartararo
Fabio Quartararo has only one bullet in the room to reissue his MotoGP crown. He is obliged to win the race and wait for his rival’s flat tire. If this came in the form of a crash or a technical problem on Sunday, as it seems highly unlikely that Pecco Bagnaia will not finish the race in 14th under normal circumstances, the Frenchman would still have the difficult task of overcoming the ‘Red Army’. defeat. The Italian army has eight motorcycles and half of them, not counting their leader, are potential winners of the Valencia Grand Prix, as they showed in 2021 when they took over the three steps of the drawer.
Ducati showed muscle on the first day of free practice, where its leader was seen hesitant than ever. In fact, with the FP1 standings in hand, Quartararo would become champion as he led practice and Bagnaia could only finish 17th. But FP2 put things back in place, at least in terms of the presence of the Italian engines in the lead. As soon as the drivers put on soft tires and started looking for the ‘time attack’, the standings turned red in the lead and took four of the first five positions: Luca Marini, Jorge Martín and Jack Miller were the three fastest of the day, with Enea Bastianini fifth. And ambushed by so many Italian motorcycles, Marc Márquez qualified fourth. The rider from Cervera had to deal with two falls, one per session, which had no physical consequences, but which show that the rider from Cervera already lets himself explore the limits of the bike in every training session. And that is indeed good news.
The title contenders finished eighth and ninth the day in a row, but with mixed feelings. While Quartararo gave everything, Bagnaia preferred to work for the race and even left a margin on his best lap, as he later confessed to the media: “Today I didn’t want to make mistakes”. Is the French miracle possible? It seems quite difficult, but Quartararo promises not to give up: «Nothing is impossible. You have to believe it until it’s over. In my mind I say that something can always happen, at the last minute in many sports it has been seen that everything is really possible. So until there’s the checkered flag, I won’t stop fighting. While the Frenchman believes in a comeback, the Ducati frontrunner Bagnaia are pointing the way forward.
Despite the figures saying the Moto2 title is more open than the MotoGP title, Friday’s results suggest either things are going wrong or the second Spanish title of the season is being celebrated in Valencia. With a 9.5 point lead in the standings, Augusto Fernández is better off on the podium, but when the first day of free practice is over, the only one to present himself as the rival of the Balearics is his team-mate, Pedro Acosta. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders shared first and second positions in the two free practice sessions, while Ogura could only finish eleventh. And the worst thing for the Japanese isn’t so much the position as the difference between the two, as he finished nearly a second behind Acosta’s best time of the day, who had no problem confirming he’d be willing to step up as a squire. steps, where applicable.
In Moto3, Izan Guevara was already world champion, leading the first free practice session and finishing third in the practice session, behind the Japanese Tatsuki Suzuki and Dennis Foggia. The Italian is set to take second to Sergio García, who finished sixth and is looking for a double for Spanish motorcycling in the small category and for the team led by Jorge Martínez Aspar.
Source: La Verdad
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