It was a historical day at the MotorLand Aragón as the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragón hosted for the first time the Tissot Sprint, introduced in 2023, preceded in the morning by an intense qualifying shootout. Rookie sensation Pedro Acosta made the show in the morning, and got himself his second front row start of the season, in P2, coming all the way from Q1, while Augusto Fernandez was starting from 19th. In the afternoon's sprint, the young Shark claimed his first sprint medal since the Italian Grand Prix, while Augusto Fernandez finished 12th.

As he missed out on a direct Q2 by just 0.077 seconds on Friday, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta faced a big challenge on Saturday morning, as he had to go through the extremely competitive pre-qualifying stage, against the likes of Brad Binder, Jack Miller, Enea Bastianini… If both Moto2™ and Moto3™ class had to do their homework on a track with still many damp marks following the rain overnight, track conditions became better and better as the sun rose over Aragón desert and we saw the wet marks disappear progressively. Heading to Q1 with confidence after taking the 4th time of FP2, the rookie set an early 1’48.679 allowing him to provisionally take the lead, but Miller responded with a 1’48.449 (+0.030). Halfway through, Acosta was in P2. With one minute left on the clock, the battle for top 2 gained in intensity, many red sectors displaying on screens, including Acosta’s, who was giving his everything in the final flying lap. He saw the checkered flag with a 1'48.048, one that placed him first for a few seconds, until Binder’s final push saw him take the lead by 0.060 seconds. Marco Bezzecchi was also improving all his sectors, putting Acosta in danger, but eventually his lap time was the third fastest. The young shark qualified for Q2, an outstanding performance considering the entry list! As he joined the big dogs and an imperial Marc Marquez, the Shark set an early lap in 1’48.108 that placed him provisionally on the front row, behind the #93, as both returned to their pit boxes. Run 2. While Marquez was 'wayyy' too fast, the young Shark managed to pull a late 1'47.606, one that made him head straight to parc fermé, in P2! Outstanding job from the rookie who qualified on the front row for the first time since Austin.

In the Sprint, Acosta took a solid start, although dropping down one position to Jorge Martin in T1 to exit the first corner in third while some damage was done further at the back of the group. After one lap, the top three Marc Marquez-Jorge Martin-Pedro Acosta quickly made the gap on the rest. We saw the #93 escape at the front leaving the two others with no hope of victory, but the rookie managed to keep contact with the Prima Pramac Racing rider, while these two were already 1.8 seconds away from the fourth, Francesco Bagnaia. Surprisingly, we saw the World Champion struggle and lose pace, letting Alex Marquez take the lead of the chasing group, but the front three remained the same until the very end. The young Shark crossed the line in third, making it his first sprint medal since Mugello!

Augusto Fernandez continued to look for solutions to improve his package and close the gap on the rest of the grid. After finishing in P18 in yesterday’s practice during which we saw him crash, unhurt, the Spaniard’s best of his first Q1 run was a 1’49.543, a time that placed him in 19th on the grid ahead of the afternoon’s Tissot Sprint. As lights went out, Augusto took a rather good start as we saw him progress from P19 to P13 in one lap.  Fabio Di Giannantonio was coming back strong at the back, pressuring the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider, and that was battle for 13th on during most of the sprint for these two. Eventually, a late mistake from the VR46 rider gave the opportunity to Fernandez pass the checkered flag in P12, after he also passed by Jack Miller in the last lap. Augusto finishes 12th, a promising result with seven positions gained. The Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 squad will get to work to prepare for the long distance tomorrow, as lights of the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragon will go out at 14:00 local time (GMT+2).