MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT – FRIDAY

MAVERICK SHINES ON FRIDAY IN MISANO: SECOND BELOW THE TRACK RECORD

BAD CRASH FOR ALEIX IN THE FINALE OF THE SECOND SESSION

The Maverick-Aprilia story began right on this asphalt, where he rode the RS-GP for the first time in 2021. In the 2022 GP, he finished on the podium after a long battle for the win, and his feeling with the Misano World Circuit was once again confirmed on the first day of practice which just ended. After the two sessions, the Spanish rider is lying second, below the previous track record, but more importantly, he demonstrated an impressive pace in race configuration.

On the other hand, it was a complicated day for Aleix, who had dominated the Barcelona weekend, slowed by annoying chattering for which his mechanics were only able to find a partial solution. In any case, in the time attack to clinch a spot in Q2, Espargaró pushed to the limit, initially managing to get into the top ten. However, during the finale, a violent crash kept him from improving further and relegated him to twelfth place, with a top-10 spot eluding him by just 83 thousandths of a second. 

Following the medical checks carried out by Dr. Angel Charte after the crash, Aleix was found to have whiplash which will require absolute rest until tomorrow. Ahead of the FP2 session, scheduled for 10:10 a.m. tomorrow, the rider will undergo another check. In any case, the objective is still to be on the track regularly for the sessions tomorrow.

ALEIX
“Unfortunately, it was a bad crash. My neck is in a lot of pain and it was certainly not the best start to the weekend. I did not have a good feeling today. There were a lot of vibrations that kept me from riding cleanly. I was pushing to get into the top ten and get the day back on track, but it wasn’t enough. Now I’ll try to get as much rest as possible and I’ll do everything I can to be back on the track tomorrow morning.”

MAVERICK
“I am truly happy with the day today. It’s a pleasure to be able to ride like this. I felt at ease from the very first lap, with the same good sensations as the previous GP races and this consistent performance helps me to build more and more confidence. We already have a good pace and we were also fast in the time attack, so that makes me optimistic for qualifying tomorrow. The goal is the front row.”