Bagnaia speeds past Quartararo to top Day 1 in Jerez

Bengaluru, May 1: Ducati Lenovo Team's Francesco Bagnaia was once again able to illustrate his breathtaking pace over one-lap by flying to top spot on the opening day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain at the Jerez circuit.

The Italian's 1:37.209 was more than enough to make sure he was at the top of the timesheets in FP2, with FIM MotoGP World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) the only man to be within touching distance of the 2019 Moto2 world champion; 0.178sec adrift of his title rival.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completes the top three as the Noale factory continue to impress with the nearly all-new RS-GP.

MotoGP riders ready for a new challenge in Jerez

The men first and second in the 2021 FIm MotoGP World Championship look to be continuing their fine form this weekend, with Bagnaia and Quartararo a comfortable quarter of a second clear of their closest rivals.

Just like in Portimao, both Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) are currently outside of the top ten and could well be heading into Q1.

World vhampion Mir needs to find at least 0.144 of a second overnight to jump up from 13th, whilst Marquez was the only rider unable to improve on his FP1 lap time and, therefore, finds himself down in 16th.

Can the pair of champions find something during FP3 on Saturday morning and salvage a Q2 place? Has Bagnaia got pole in the bag, or will Quartararo strike back? And what has Marquez got in the locker for Day 2? We will find out soon as the qualifying starts at 2.10pm local time (5.40pm IST).

The Indian audience can catch all the action live on Eurosport channels.

Top 10:

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1:37.209
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.178
3. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.437
4. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.495
5. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.517
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.566
7. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.607
8. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.638
9. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.679
10. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.687

(By a special arrangement with Dorna Sports)