MotoGP Argentina, Termas – Friday Practice (2) Results

* 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)

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.

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.