Francesco Bagnaia bounced back from last weekend poor outing at the Aragon Grand Prix by topping the table in Practice today sending him through to Q2. Bagnaia visibly and verbally display his fight through the pain of lingering soreness from last weekend’s crash. However despite this he was still the fastest on track. He said, “This morning it was hard without painkillers, while this afternoon things got better and I managed to be fast. The main problem is at the start of the session and whenever I get back on track as it’s hard to even tuck in due to the pain in both shoulders. Once we get a few laps in, things improve. We still managed to find a solution that allows me to focus on my riding and not on the pain.
Today we mainly worked on the set-up with the medium rear tire, even though as we saw with Jorge (Martín) the soft option can easily hold well for the whole sprint race distance. The choice for tomorrow won’t be an easy one. At the moment, Martín and (Marc) Márquez are our main rivals: they are both competitive despite the fact that they interpret the track very differently, even compared to me, but this is a very complete track and each of us have an edge in different areas of the track.”
Marc Marquez In the Championship Fight?
Its a bit early to be discussing a potential championship run for Marc Marquez in 2024. However, his recent form suggest that there could be a path forward as he has solidified himself as a mid season front runner. Finishing P2 in practice behind Bagnaia by just under 2 tenths of a second. Marquez said, “We’re happy with today: we were able to get the same feeling and the quick lap-times came. We’re still missing something in order to be at our best, but right now I see myself on row two and maybe in the podium battle. We need to improve in the third sector as those right-hand corners don’t play to my strengths, but we’re there.”
Jorge Martin the current championship leader finished P3 in practice but seems unbothered by the riders ahead. The focus seemed to be more on the team to get the bike to 100% for qualifying. “I felt very comfortable, very fast, and I was able to do exactly what I wanted with the bike,” said Martin. “In the afternoon, I tried the soft tire, hoping to make another step forward, but I didn’t find what I was expecting. So, we made some other changes and found a satisfactory pace. Third is a good result for a Friday, and we’ll keep working to improve even more”.
Full Practice Result from Misano