Alvaro Bautista edged out Aruba.it Racing teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi by 0.077 seconds in FP2 at Aragon. Behind was the fellow Ducati of Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) who seems to have found the necessary chemistry with his Ducati V4R to return to podium contention. It was Ducati day at the top of the table with Ducati bikes filling the top 3 spots ahead Jonathan Rea’s Kawasaki. In an uncharacteristic fifth fastest position sat Iker Lecuona.
Lecuona had the following words after FP2
“Overall, I’m quite happy with the first day here. We already knew that our pace at this track was competitive, something we noted during the recent test. Not over the flying lap, where I expect some challenges tomorrow, but in terms of race pace, so I feel confident there. This morning I could push hard, lapped on my own and felt comfortable all session long. This afternoon the track temperature increased by around ten degrees and the feeling changed a bit, especially at the front. I cannot say I’m a fan of the new front spec, I felt a little on the limit and took a couple of risks before ultimately crashing.”
“Just a small crash, and I’m totally fine, so overall I’m very happy, as I’ve said. We are top five, and it’s been a while since we started a racing weekend this well. We’ll try and fight at the front as far as we can, but we shouldn’t forget that today is only Friday. This morning was cold and windy, and the track was a bit dirty, with many riders already improving their pace this afternoon. The track will continue to improve run by run. So we need to work well in FP3 and qualifying and then perhaps we’ll have a chance to stay in the front group or close to it during the first race. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
The result was great for the Honda rider. However, we will see if he can repeat it in Superpole.
Full Aragon FP2 Result are Below