Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez got their Spanish Grand Prix campaign going on Friday at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. Lap times were already competitive with reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia already breaking the all-time lap record of the circuit. Rookie Pedro Acosta made his much-awaited MotoGP™ debuts on home turf, and brilliantly qualified directly to Q2 as he claimed P6 of Practice. Augusto Fernandez struggled a bit more to find his marks on the opening day in Jerez and finished twenty-second.

Difficult to say that we do not have expectations when we are arriving in Spain with back-to-back podiums, however, Pedro Acosta made it quite clear that this new round, his fourth only in the premier class, was going to be approached as the previous ones, that is to say, lap after lap, session after session. In front of many Spanish fans having made the journey to see their rookie sensation on a MotoGP™ machine, Pedro Acosta progressively took his marks this morning, finishing tenth, just 1.012 seconds from the fastest time of the opening session. The now traditional Practice allowed the shark to continue improving, getting better laps in, but he was also able to learn from MotoGP™ legend Dani Pedrosa as he spent a few laps behind the Pierer Mobilty test rider, completing a Wild Card this weekend. Eventually, in the final time attacks, Acosta managed to pull a 1'36.439 with a bit of help from Bagnaia, a lap time which placed him sixth. The rookie qualified directly to Q2, a great achievement considering the big names on the Q1 entry list.

Augusto Fernandez was excited to be back racing in Spain at one of his favorite circuits, but things were a bit tricky after the Spaniard underwent a surgery last week following an injury on his left hand. Fernandez struggled all day to get himself into a decent pace. In the morning, he was 1.7 seconds away from the fastest lap, and the afternoon’s Practice was not easy either for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider who finished 1.072 seconds from the top 10. He will hope for a better Saturday, as the action will resume at 10:10 local time with Free Practice 2, before the qualifying sessions begin at 10:50!