MotoGP Argentina, Termas - Friday Practice (2) Results

Friday practice results from the MotoGP of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, round 2 of 21 in the 2023 world championship.
Aleix Espargaro, Argentina MotoGP, 31 March
Aleix Espargaro, Argentina MotoGP, 31 March
2023 MotoGP Argentina, Termas - Practice (2) Results
Pos RiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax
1^1Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)1'38.518s20/21335k
2˅1Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)+0.162s24/26338k
3^6Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.249s19/24335k
4^3Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.315s23/25335k
5^1Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)+0.391s20/22334k
6^4Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP23)+0.426s19/20336k
7˅4Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP23)+0.488s22/25336k
8˅4Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+0.553s25/25330k
9˅1Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.562s21/23332k
10^1Alex RinsSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+0.599s22/24334k
11˅6Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP22)+0.666s21/26335k
12^4Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.684s16/22333k
13^5Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+0.719s21/23331k
14^1Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.746s25/27334k
15˅3Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP22)+0.770s24/25333k
16˅2Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.858s19/24333k
17˅4Augusto FernandezSPATech3 GASGAS (RC16)*+1.043s16/20332k
18˅1Raul FernandezSPARNF Aprilia (RS-GP22)+1.057s21/23334k

Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than Practice 1.
= Rider is same position as Practice 1.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than Practice 1.

Official Termas de Rio Hondo MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 37.683s (2014)
Fastest race lap:
Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1m 39.019s (2015)

* Rookie

Riders directly to Qualifying 2 - Top 10 Combined Practice Times:
PosRiderNatTeam
1Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Factory (RS-GP23)
2Maverick VinalesSPAAprilia Factory (RS-GP23)
3Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)
4Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)
5Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP23)
6Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP23)
7Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP23)
8Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)
9Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
10Alex RinsSPALCR Honda (RC213V)

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales repeat this morning's Aprilia one-two, in reverse order, at the end of Friday practice at the 2023 MotoGP of Argentina.

Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo and Jack Miller are among those to miss out on a top ten place and will need to take part in Saturday's Qualifying 1.

The 1m 39.207s morning best by Vinales stood as the lap to beat until the final 15mins of the hour when Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin popped ahead.

Last year's winner Espargaro then briefly restored the RS-GP to the top before Ducati's reigning champion and 2023 title leader Francesco Bagnaia set the first 1m 38s lap of the weekend.

But Marco Bezzecchi, Vinales and Luca Marini swiftly pushed the double Portimao winner down to fourth ahead of the final run.

Vinales dislodged Bezzecchi, but was in turn beaten by Espargaro - the Aprilias thus repeating their morning one-two, but with Espargaro 0.162s ahead of Vinales.

Further back, the LCR  Hondas had a good day with Takaaki Nakagami in eighth and Alex Rins, who has one of Marc Marquez's Honda chassis to try this weekend, in tenth.

15th this morning on the slippery surface, the dry afternoon weather was especially welcome for Quartararo. 

But the Frenchman continued to struggle, being consistently outpaced by team-mate Franco Morbidelli (ninth) and visibly agitated, punching the tank and shrugging his shoulders in disbelief on his way to just 14th place.

Rookie Augusto Fernandez, 13th this morning, lost the front and tumbled through the gravel at turn one early in the afternoon session.

Most riders used the hard front and medium rear tyre combination this afternoon.

Remote video URL

Four riders are missing Argentina due to injuries at last weekend’s Portimao season-opener: Pol Espargaro, Enea Bastianini, Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez.

Bastianini, Oliveira and Marquez hope to return for round three in COTA but Espargaro’s injuries are set to see him sidelined for at least several more events. There are no replacement riders this weekend but Espargaro will be replaced by KTM test rider Jonas Folger next time out.

Aleix Espargaro gave Aprilia its first and so far only MotoGP victory in last year’s Termas de Rio Hondo race ahead of Jorge Martin, who was also caught up in the Marquez-Oliveira clash and is riding with a broken toe this weekend.

Unlike last weekend's Portimao season-opener, which was preceded by a winter test, there has been no MotoGP action at Argentina since last year's grand prix.

2023 MotoGP Argentina, Termas - Practice (1) Results

PosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax
1Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)1'39.207s18/20335k
2Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)+0.284s18/18336k
3Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP23)+0.301s18/20334k
4Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+0.376s18/19333k
5Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP22)+0.403s18/19334k
6Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)+0.421s16/17334k
7Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.426s15/18333k
8Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.489s15/16334k
9Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.493s15/20335k
10Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP23)+0.544s17/18337k
11Alex RinsSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+0.595s16/17335k
12Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP22)+0.719s17/19331k
13Augusto FernandezSPATech3 GASGAS (RC16)*+0.787s19/20333k
14Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.830s15/17333k
15Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.909s17/19334k
16Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+1.057s19/19332k
17Raul FernandezSPARNF Aprilia (RS-GP22)+1.129s16/18331k
18Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+1.458s18/19331k

 

* Rookie

Official Termas de Rio Hondo MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 37.683s (2014)
Fastest race lap:
Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1m 39.019s (2015)

Maverick Vinales leads an Aprilia one-two during opening practice for the MotoGP of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, ahead of Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin.

Light rain during the previous Moto2 session had cleared in time for MotoGP FP1, but with more moisture forecast there was a sense of urgency to finish FP1 in the top ten in case of an afternoon downpour.

Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli surprised by heading Aprilia's 2022 winner Aleix Espargaro at the midway stage of the 45mins on the rarely used circuit, which nonetheless looked much cleaner than in past years.

Espargaro's team-mate Vinales then took over, before Portimao podium finisher Marco Bezzecchi was the first to dip under the 1m 40s mark with 8mins to go - kicking off a mini-qualifying session that ended with Vinales back on top.

The Spaniard stopped at the end of the session, possibly due to a lack of fuel.

Takaaki Nakagami was a surprise fourth for LCR Honda, with Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) completing the top six.

Double Portimao winner Francesco Bagnaia was tenth for Ducati while the likes of a frustrated Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) must hope the dry weather holds if they are to avoid a trip to Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning.

Alex Rins, who has been given one of Marc Marquez's newer Honda chassis for this weekend, was the only faller, at turn 1 with 15mins to go, while he was holding seventh place.

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