Marc Marquez, the undisputed master of exploiting low or mixed grip conditions, set the pace in free practice 1 for MotoGP’s Aragon GP on his Gresini Racing Ducati GP23.
Marquez’s five wins at the circuit make him the most successful rider in the 14 editions of the Grand Prix, and he earned the top spot by almost half a second over Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin.
But the Spaniard’s effort was more than two seconds away from the lap record set at the previous outing in Aragon in 2022 following resurfacing at the MotorLand Aragon circuit.
“The problem with Aragon was the grip, which was so low in the past… we need to see now,” cautioned Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Vinales on Thursday after a large contingent of the paddock had walked the 3.1-mile layout for a cursory view of the new surface.
“I expect the first practice to clean it and then get better every session. We don’t have much time…so we have to be very clear how we want to work.”
Martin was the first of the 2024-spec factory Ducatis as world champion Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini struggled. Both Italians ran off-line or off-track several times and Bagnaia’s P21 is his worst FP1 classification of the season, 1.9s away from future team-mate Marquez.
Bastianini completed the most laps with 20 and managed to squeeze into the top ten with ninth.
“The track situation is not good at the moment, the grip level is very low and they have no confidence to lean the bike,” Michelin Two Wheel Motorsport Manager Piero Taramasso said.
Aragon circuit
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“This is a problem: when the asphalt is new there is some oil coming up. It will take time to clean the track and put rubber down to maximise the grip.
“We’ll need to wait until this afternoon and good conditions to push to the limit.”
GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta was third fastest, 0.6s behind Marquez, and headed another KTM RC16 with Brad Binder on the factory machine indicating that the Austrian bikes look more formidable across the greasy tarmac than the Aprilias in the fight to be the best-non Ducati. The Italian brand’s prominent runner was Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira in seventh.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) was fifth quickest, despite nursing a weakened left shoulder after crashing on Friday at the previous Grand Prix in Spielberg and dislocating the limb.
Binder’s team-mate Jack Miller rode to eighth,…
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