Argentina MotoGP: Espargaro tops extended warm-up for Aprilia

Due to the freight delays causing Friday’s action to be cancelled, MotoGP elected to extend Sunday’s morning warm-up session to 40 minutes to allow the riders to recoup some lost track time. 

In the early stages of warm-up, Pramac’s Johann Zarco led the way with a 1m39.452, though was soon deposed by poleman Espargaro on the Aprilia.  

Ahead of his 200th MotoGP start, Espargaro stormed to an historic first pole for Aprilia in the modern era on Saturday and continued to show strong pace in the warm-up.  

Espargaro would eventually get his pace down to a 1m38.648s with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.  

This time would go unchallenged through to the chequered flag, with Quartararo – who will start the race from sixth – 0.244 seconds adrift in second.  

Alex Rins was third on the Suzuki ahead of Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin, who will launch from second on the grid later today having been denied pole at the death on Saturday.  

Maverick Vinales continues to show strong form on the second factory Aprilia in fifth, which is where he qualified, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was sixth.  

After a difficult Saturday, Bagnaia will start from 13th later today having been promoted a spot by a three-place grid penalty for teammate Jack Miller.  

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira was seventh in warm-up but will have work to do from 16th on the grid later today.  

Teammate Brad Binder shadowed him on Sunday morning in eighth, 0.398s off the pace, while LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was the only Honda inside the top 10 at the end of warm-up in ninth.  

Johann Zarco on the second Pramac Ducati completed the top 10 ahead of Suzuki’s Joan Mir, while Miller was 17th.  

After a storming day for Valentino Rossi’s squad on Saturday having been one of the team’s most affected by the freight delays, its Sunday got off to a terrible start.  

Marco Bezzecchi crashed through the fast Turn 6 left-hander early in the session, before teammate Luca Marini – who is due to start the race third – fell from his VR46 Ducati at Turn 2 in the final 16 minutes.  

The 2022 MotoGP Argentina GP will get underway at 3pm local time (6pm BST). 

Argentina MotoGP - Warm-up results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'38.648
2	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'38.892	0.244
3	Alex Rins		Suzuki	1'38.912	0.264
4	Jorge Martin		Ducati	1'38.933	0.285
5	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	1'38.939	0.291
6	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'38.954	0.306
7	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	1'39.042	0.394
8	Brad Binder		KTM	1'39.046	0.398
9	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'39.073	0.425
10	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'39.085	0.437
11	Joan Mir		Suzuki	1'39.172	0.524
12	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	1'39.184	0.536
13	Pol Espargaro		Honda	1'39.237	0.589
14	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'39.240	0.592
15	Darryn Binder		Yamaha	1'39.335	0.687
16	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	1'39.437	0.789
17	Jack Miller		Ducati	1'39.518	0.870
18	Alex Marquez		Honda	1'39.524	0.876
19	Raúl Fernández		KTM	1'39.661	1.013
20	Remy Gardner		KTM	1'39.706	1.058
21	Andrea Dovizioso		Yamaha	1'39.746	1.098
22	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	1'39.779	1.131
23	Luca Marini		Ducati	1'39.792	1.144
24	Stefan Bradl		Honda	1'39.802	1.154
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