MotoGP: Aprilia teammates 1-2 in Indonesian heat

There was nowhere to hide from the intense Indonesian sunlight and heat as Friday MotoGP practice began in Mandalika, temperatures pushing above 30°C from early in the morning.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took top honors in Friday afternoon’s Practice as he turned his session around with a 1:30.474 after hitting the deck earlier on, and it’s his teammate Maverick Viñales in second as he also spent a lot of Friday towards the top end of the timing screens.

The headlines kept coming from there on out as a battered and bruised Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took third despite an FP1 crash AND coming back from recent collarbone surgery, with reigning Champion and Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) more on the back foot after a late mistake sees him heading for Q1.

With Friday afternoon’s Practice session deciding who goes through to Q2, the riders spent the majority of the session working on their race packages before putting in those late time attacks. With six minutes remaining, all riders were in the pits ready to fight for the all-important top 10, and the battle was about to commence with only a few bankers already set.

Points leader Francesco Bagnaia was very much in the danger zone after leaving it to his very last lap of the session to put in a hot lap. With the checkered flag already out Bagnaia was sat outside of the top 10 but was motoring on, on course for a personal best. It looked as if the Champ’s lap was looking pretty safe until a big moment in the latter part of the lap saw his flyer scrapped, heading off at Turn 15 after a moment – and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) then also crashing out almost in tandem.

Now with just a 3-point advantage over his title rival Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Bagnaia will be forced to go through Q1 with Martin comfortably sat in the top five just behind Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who took fourth.

Friday Practice – Indonesian Grand Prix