Portugal Colonial - Espargaro 'switches off brain' to lead Aprilia dominance in Jerez

Spaniards set the four fastest times with Dani Pedrosa, racing as a wild card for KTM in his first GP since August 2021, finishing the day third.

The 37-year-old set the fastest time in the morning session and that was good enough for third overall.

"It was an amazing feeling," said Pedrosa of seeing his name at the top of the leaderboard. "It was a surprise for sure."

Jorge Martin was fourth on a Ducati-Pramac as many of the big names struggled as afternoon temperatures soared into the 30s.

Espargaro said he was surprised by his pace in the heat.

"MotoGP is crazy and once everybody puts the soft tyre on you switch off the brain and the speed we reach is just insane," he said.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia failed to make the top 10 on his factory Ducati.

"This afternoon I struggled to find speed and consistency," said Bagnaia. "Honestly, I expected more from my bike today."

The Italian will have to ride in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning for a chance of competing for a spot on the first four rows of the grids in the afternoon's sprint and Sunday's race.

He will face stiff competition for one of the two places in the final 12-rider qualifying session.

Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi had to stop his Ducati after it started spewing smoke. The winner of the last race, in Texas, Alex Rins of Honda and 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo, of Yamaha were also outside the top ten.

As others wilted in the heat, Aprilia thrived.

"The track was not easy in the afternoon," said Espargaro, adding that it seemed to suit Aprilia.

"When the track is super hot and there's a greasy feeling, no grip, looks like we are able to accelerate and have better traction than our rivals."

Espargaro finished two thousandth of a second faster than Vinales who laughingly blamed the "front wind" for the difference.

A.P.Maia--PC