- 2023-09-03
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SPORTS
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MotoGP Catalan GP: Francesco Bagnaia Takes Pole Position, Aleix Espargaro Wins Sprint Race at Montmelo
The Round 11 of MotoGP 2023, Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya took place at the Barcelona circuit in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Montmeló, Spain on September 2, 2023.
In Qualifying, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) took his sixth pole position of 2023 season with a new track record 1'38.639s.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was 2nd behind Francesco Bagnaia by 0.104 seconds.
Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia) finished 3rd, which is his first front row since his Portuguese GP pole in 2020.
Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) was fourth on the third Aprilia inside the top four.
Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo) finished 11th, but will drop 3 places on Sunday due to having impeded Pol Espargaro (Tech3 GASGAS) in FP2 on Friday.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) advanced to Q2 from Q1, who was the only Japanese bike rider into Q2, and was 12th.
While, Japanese Manufacturer Yamaha duo of Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) were not able to advance to Q2.
Francesco Bagnaia said, “This is one of the most important pole positions as Aprilia are so strong at this track.”
In the Sprint Race, Aleix Espargaro claimed his first Sprint Race victory. Pole sitter Francesco Bagnaia was 2nd.
Maverick Viñales took his second 3rd place in Sprint, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) just out of touch in fourth.
Aleix Espargaro said, “Yeah I agree. Pecco is right but Pecco, at the moment, is riding at a really high level. Today, the pole position of Pecco proved that - we always say that the tendency not to credit the hard work of the riders - if he's not doing good results the bike is shit but if he's doing good results he has the best bike, but it's not always true. There are many Ducatis but Pecco proved this weekend that he's very fast. I was very angry about the pole position actually because I know that I have a better bike than Pecco here and he broke the lap record. I was a little bit angry with myself. It's clear in a track like Barcelona that we have better traction and the speed we can carry on the fast corners is higher than the Ducati. We need to work on the other tracks because they improved a lot on the brakes. But on these sorts of tracks we are the reference. I made this bike. I built this bike for this type of riding style. I don't really like my riding style and I would like to put my lean angle more on the floor and sometimes I try in the tests but I don't see any benefit. It's very nice to see what Jorge Martin is doing but I don't see a benefit. The Aprilia needs to turn by itself. You can help it to turn for sure, but you don't need to force it like hell because it means the bike is not working. The bike needs to turn by itself. I think the Aprilia is the bike that turns the most on the grid.”
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Qualifying Results- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / 1'38.639s
- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Racing / +0.104s
- Miguel Oliveira / RNF Aprilia / +0.109s
- Maverick Viñales / Aprilia Racing / +0.133s
- Jorge Martin / Pramac Ducati / +0.158s
- Johann Zarco / Pramac Ducati / +0.219s
- Alex Marquez / Gresini Ducati / +0.414s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / Gresini Ducati / +0.415s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +0.418s
- Marco Bezzecchi / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +0.729s
- Enea Bastianini / Ducati Lenovo / +0.936s
- Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda / +1.062s
- Jack Miller / Red Bull KTM / 1'39.232s
- Pol Espargaro / Tech3 GASGAS / 1'39.33s
- Raul Fernandez / RNF Aprilia / 1'39.36s
- Franco Morbidelli / Monster Yamaha / 1'39.452s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / 1'39.51s
- Luca Marini / Mooney VR46 Ducati / 1'39.573s
- Augusto Fernandez / Tech3 GASGAS / 1'39.794s
- Joan Mir / Repsol Honda / 1'40.214s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / 1'40.388s
- Iker Lecuona / LCR Honda / 1'40.58s
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Sprint Race Results- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Racing / 20m 2.744s
- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / +1.989s
- Maverick Viñales / Aprilia Racing / +2.040s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +2.857s
- Jorge Martin / Pramac Ducati / +4.341s
- Miguel Oliveira / RNF Aprilia / +4.940s
- Johann Zarco / Pramac Ducati / +6.746s
- Marco Bezzecchi / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +6.888s
- Enea Bastianini / Ducati Lenovo / +8.068s
- Alex Marquez / Gresini Ducati / +10.380s
- Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda / +11.823s
- Luca Marini / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +11.900s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / Gresini Ducati / +12.018s
- Raul Fernandez / RNF Aprilia / +13.284s
- Franco Morbidelli / Monster Yamaha / +16.207s
- Jack Miller / Red Bull KTM / +16.404s
- Augusto Fernandez / Tech3 GASGAS / +16.534s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / +17.147s
- Iker Lecuona / LCR Honda / +18.658s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +19.080s
- Joan Mir / Repsol Honda / +19.574s
Photo by MotoGP- source : MotoGP
