Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Bagnaia tops Day 1 of free practices of the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez

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MotoGP | Round 4 - Spanish GP 2021 | Friday 30 April 2021

Bagnaia tops Day 1 of free practices of the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. Twelfth Jack Miller.

Francesco Bagnaia set the fastest time on Day 1 of free practices for the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix, scheduled for this Sunday at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Andalusia.

Fourth at the end of FP1 this morning, the Italian rider was able to take full advantage of the last minutes available in this afternoon's FP2, stopping the clock at 1:37.209 and taking the top spot at the end of Friday.

Jack Miller, seventeenth in FP1 this morning, improved his best lap time by almost a second in the afternoon session, ending FP2 in twelfth place in 1:37.965, 756 thousandths behind his teammate.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1st (1:37.209)
"Jerez is a track that I like and that suits my riding style with the Desmosedici GP. Last year I was fast, but this year I've definitely taken a step forward. This morning, even though I was struggling at the beginning with the low temperatures, after a few adjustments, I was able to regain feeling with my bike and set the fourth fastest time. In the afternoon, we worked on the race pace, first with the hard tyre and then with a used medium tyre, with which I was able to put in a good lap time. In the final minutes of FP2, I finally tried the time attack. I'm pleased with the way we've worked so far and confident for tomorrow's qualifying”.

Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 12th (1:37.965)
"All in all, it's been a positive first day: I've worked a lot on my feeling with the Desmosedici GP, trying to find the right pace for the race, lap by lap. Unfortunately, in the time attack this afternoon, I made a small mistake in the last sector. We're not far off, and now we'll work to try to improve even further tomorrow”.

The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow, Saturday 1st May, at 9:55 am local time for FP3, before heading into qualifying for the Spanish GP starting from 2:10 pm, at the end of FP4.