MotoGP™ has landed in Motegi for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, round 16 of the calendar, and the final leg of the first triple header before a small week of break. After a morning session disrupted by the rain, the action truly got started in the afternoon’s Practice. An on-fire Pedro Acosta got himself a direct Q2 ticket after finishing 4th of a crazy Practice shootout, while Augusto Fernandez will have to go through Q1 tomorrow, after finishing 19th on Friday.

Having arrived in Japan with confidence from his podium the past week in Mandalika, Pedro Acosta, once again, was quick to understand how to handle the RC16 on the 4.8 km Mobility Resort Motegi track. The young shark could only ride 9 laps in FP1, disrupted by the rain, but his best lap was a 1’46.062 (+0.853), which was already positive for his first few laps on the MotoGP™ machine. Things got busier in the key afternoon’s Practice session, and Pedro Acosta was quick to settle amongst the provisional top 3. Appearing confident on the track in much-better conditions, the rookie was provisionally in P4 with just half an hour to go into the session, led by Francesco Bagnaia. As less than fifteen minutes remained on the clock, times started to go seriously down, with Brad Binder and Maverick Vinales making the effort to settle in the provisional 1-2, but Acosta was quick to answer with a 1’49. 897 to take P2, and the next lap, he pushed even more to clock in an incredible 1'43.754 and set a new benchmark! 7 minutes remained as the heat continued to increase in Motegi. Binder, Martin, Bastianini and Bagnaia improved, leaving Acosta in P5 with just one minute left. That was not over for the #31 whose late improvement to 1’43.583 got him the final 4th position, meaning that he will once again head directly to Q2. Mission of the day complete for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 star! Next target: Front-row start!

Augusto Fernandez was also back on his RC16 in Japan, where he finished 7th last season in his rookie season. Seven laps in the wet Free Practice 1 were very little for the Spaniard to find his marks and the confidence needed ahead of Practice. Heading to the one-hour afternoon session, the Spaniard started with a lap in 1'45.603. Shortly after his exit for run 2, the Spaniard crashed in the final corner, but was able to quickly bring his RC16 back to the garage, and return on track soon. As fifteen minutes remained on the clock, Augusto was in 20th. A late improvement to a 1’44.869 sees him finish the day in P19, as he will have to go through the pre-qualifying stage. Some much-needed work awaits Augusto's squad to help him approach Super Saturday in better conditions than this opening day. MotoGP™ action will be back on Saturday morning at 10:10 local time (GMT+9), followed by the qualifying sessions from 10:50. Both Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez will then gear up for the Tissot Sprint, scheduled to start at 15:00 LT.