Pedrosa rolls back the years to top Jerez P1, Quartararo only P18

Dani Pedrosa has ended P1 of the Spanish MotoGP fastest after a sensational performance from the KTM test rider.

28 Apr 2023

One of the tightest circuits on the calendar, Jerez was not disappointing during the early stages as lap times were very close.

Fabio Quartararo got down to a time of 1:38.220s to lead the way after ten minutes from KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa.

However, Aprilia then began to show their pace as Miguel Oliveira went quickest, while Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro moved up to third and fourth.

The only rider to break underneath the 1m 38s barrier, Oliveira was still less than a tenth clear of Espargaro and Quartararo as both riders found more time.

After making mistakes in Argentina and America, reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia was the first rider over a second behind Oliveira in P18.

Bagnaia was not the only rider to make a slow start to P1 as Takaaki Nakagami was 22nd after the opening few laps. However, a big improvement saw the Japanese rider jump up to second.

Trying to push on, Quartararo nearly came unstuck at turn six when he out-braked himself on entry to the right-hander.

There was a similar moment for Joan Mir a few minutes later as the Honda rider shook his head in frustration after running off circuit at turn two.

Rolling back the years, Pedrosa continued his impressive start to FP1 as he went quickest by over a tenth from Jorge Martin.

With conditions expected to get hotter as the day goes on, time attacks began as early as 15 minutes remaining of the session.

Raul Fernandez was the first rider to significantly improve as he went fifth, before Johann Zarco jumped up to P3.

Nakagami then went top with an impressive time of 1:37.580s, however, the LCR Honda rider was immediately bumped down to second by Zarco.

Espargaro was next to take aim at top spot as a brilliant final sector saw him go three tenths clear of Zarco.

But Nakagami, who has made it known that Jerez is his favourite circuit, nearly broke into the 1m 36s barrier as he regained P1.

With just seconds remaining Martin delivered the first sub 1m 37s lap of the session, before Pedrosa found over 0.188s in the final sector to grab an unlikely top spot.