A wounded world champion roared back on Fri-day, Francesco Bagnaia lowering his own lap record in practice at Jerez for this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP.
The factory Ducati rider, champion in 2022 and 2023, won the opener in Qatar yet has subsequently fallen to fifth in the championship standings coming into this fourth round of the season.
But the Italian sent out a warning to the pre-tenders to his crown by dominating the Friday practice with a sizzling late lap of 1min 36.025 to better his own previous best time at the circuit in Andalusia of 1min 36.170 set in 2022.
He topped second practice ahead of Maverick Vinales, the Aprilia rider on a cloud after his heroics at the Grand Prix of the Americas, where he won both the sprint and the race itself off a record pole.—AFP
