MotoGP™ engines roared in the desert of Aragón for the first time in two years on Friday at MotorLand, with Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez both making their debuts in the premier class on the newly resurfaced layout. While both showed competitive pace, Acosta eventually ended Practice in P12, missing out another time on a direct Q2 by a small margin, and Fernandez closed Friday in P18.

The Shark from Mazarron was back within the top of the timesheets on the opening day of the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragón, after a few rounds below expectations. As the rookie attended a key private Test in Misano last week that allowed him to reflect on the first half of his impressive debuts in the premier class, the #31 approached his home leg with a different set of mind, as he aimed to return to simplified working methods. That seemed to pay off as we saw Acosta finish third fastest of the opening session in the morning, with a 1'48.902 (+0.613), as he was led by Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin. As the afternoon session and the hot conditions left room for major improvements from all the class, we saw the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider continue to show competitive pace, as he spent most of the one-hour session within the provisional top 10 with solid lap times. A little something ended up missing in the end as Acosta followed teammate Augusto Fernandez in the final time attacks, and a late yellow flag meant that he had to settle with 12th of Practice with a 1'46.932, 0.077 seconds from P10. 

On the other side of the garage, we saw Augusto Fernandez become a rookie again for one weekend, as the #37 was making his debuts in MotorLand with his GASGAS RC16. The start of Free Practice 1 was rather promising for the Spaniard, but eventually as everyone started to find their marks in Aragón, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s best in 1’49.669 meant that he was 16th of the opening session. In the afternoon’s Practice, we saw Fernandez demonstrate competitive pace as he rode alongside Marc Marquez, but a mid-session crash disrupted the momentum. Eventually, he had to settle with his fastest lap ridden before his crash, a 1’49.699, that placed him sixteenth of the session. Both Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez will have to go through a very competitive qualifying 1 tomorrow morning at 10:50 local time (GMT+2), before they line up for the first-ever Tissot Sprint at MotorLand Aragón.