Pedro Acosta takes pole position in Barcelona

FP2

The morning FP2 took place under a bright sunny sky. The riders used this 30-minute session as a warm-up ahead of qualifying.

The first yellow flag was out two minutes into the session, as Johann Zarco crashed at Turn 14. The first lap times ranged from 1:40s to 1:42s, but with each lap, the times got faster.

Riders chose different tyre configurations, ranging from both soft tyres to both medium tyres, or a mix of a soft rear and medium front tyre. The fastest so far was Joan Mir.

With 10 minutes into the session, the top 10 looked as follows: Mir, Acosta, Martin, A. Márquez, Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Binder, Aldeguer, Quartararo, Bezzecchi.

After a break in the pits, the riders made their way back onto the track with 14 minutes left.

Francesco Bagnaia, who didn’t have a good day yesterday, was now holding onto 5th place, hinting at progress for today. However, Ai Ogura was in 20th place without improvement.

With 10 minutes left, the top 10 order looked as follows: Mir, Acosta, Martin, A. Márquez, Bagnaia, Moreira, Binder, Aldeguer, Quartararo, Bezzecchi.

Enea Bastianini, who was outside the top 10, found improvement and moved to 7th place. Another rider who found improvement was Fabio Quartararo, who moved to 4th place.

Raul Fernandez, who was trailing outside the top 10, found his pace and moved to 7th place. Di Giannantonio also found some improvement as he moved to 3rd place.

Q1

In this part of qualifying were: Bastianini, Bagnaia, Ogura, Moreira, Morbidelli, Aldeguer, Martin, Marini, Razgatlioglu, Viñales, Rins, Fernandez.

The fastest two riders would go to Q2. Besides three riders, the riders chose a medium rear and soft front tyre, with the rest going for both soft tyres.

Times after the first measured lap were in a range from 1:39s to 1:40s, with Bastianini and Bagnaia in the top two. In the next lap, the fastest three riders all broke into the 1:38s range, with Bastianini in the lead.

Toprak Razgatlioglu had a short trip into the gravel trap, and with six minutes left, he was still without a time. He then crashed out with three minutes left in the session.

With the riders pushing for improvement, it was so far Martin and Bastianini leading the way.

However, Martin, who had started a great lap, crashed out in Sector 2. Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli, who also started a great lap, managed to keep the pace and moved into 1st place. However, his time was deleted due to track limits.

With barely one minute left, it was Fermín Aldeguer crashing at Turn 5. With the chequered flag out, it was certain that Morbidelli and Martin were advancing to Q2.

Q2

In this part of qualifying were: Acosta, A. Márquez, Binder, R. Fernandez, Zarco, Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi, Mir, Miller, Quartararo, Morbidelli, Martin.

The first measured times were in a range from 1:38s to 1:40s, but as always, with each lap the times improved.

Five minutes into the session, it was Pedro Acosta who came so close to breaking into the 1:37s, taking provisional pole position. Alex Márquez was in second, with Raul Fernandez in third.

The order looked as follows: Acosta, A. Márquez, R. Fernandez, Zarco, Mir, Binder, Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi, Quartararo, Morbidelli, Miller, Martin.

After a quick break, the riders returned back onto the track for the final six minutes.

With four minutes left, a yellow flag was out due to Marco Bezzecchi crashing at Turn 2.

Acosta at the top improved his time even more, yet it was still not enough to break into the 1:37s. Another rider who found improvement was Morbidelli, who moved into 2nd place.

With the chequered flag out, the riders were finishing their last attempts, but none found a late improvement.

Pedro Acosta took pole position for the Catalunya Grand Prix.