MADRID, 22 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Italians Luca Marini (Ducati) and Tony Arbolino (Kalex), in MotoGP and Moto2, respectively; and the Dutchman Collin Veijer (Husqvarna), in Moto3, were the fastest this Friday on the first day of free practice for the Indian Grand Prix, the thirteenth round of the motorcycle World Championship, with the Spaniards Jorge Martín (Ducati) and Pedro Acosta (Kalex) placing himself close to the dominators of his respective categories.
In the debut of the Buddh International Circuit in the World Championship, Valentino Rossi’s brother set, during practice and despite going to gravel, the best time in the premier category, beating Martín by just eight thousandths , currently second overall.
Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) and Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) also showed their good form, moving up to third and fourth position of the day, three and four tenths, respectively, behind the day’s dominator.
World champions like the Italian Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Ducati), seventh; Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), eighth; and the Spanish Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), tenth, also slipped into the ‘Top 10’ and advanced directly to Q2, like Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), sixth.
In the intermediate category, Arbolino claimed a lap of 1:52.105 in the last ‘time attack’ of the second session to command the combined times and displace the World Championship leader, the Spaniard, from the top, by just six hundredths Pedro Acosta (Kalex). The Japanese Ai Ogura (Kalex) was third of the day.
Additionally, Manu González (Kalex), sixth; Arón Canet (Kalex), ninth; and Marcos Ramírez (Kalex), tenth, entered the ‘Top 10’, from which men like Alonso López (Boscoscuro) were left out, who suffered a fall during the afternoon session and could only finish sixteenth.
Finally, in Moto3, the Dutch rookie Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) led the time table ahead of the Spanish Jaume Masià (Honda), who dominated the first free practice sessions and crashed, and the Italian Stefano Nepa (KTM ). Only the first two managed to go under 2:00, with the Dutchman two tenths faster than the Valencian.
José Antonio Rueda (KTM), eighth, was, along with Masià, the only Spanish rider capable of getting into the top ten, all in a complicated session for the championship leader, Dani Holgado (KTM), who suffered a fall In the last section of the second session he slipped to fourteenth position.