Bagnaia revving up for Jerez MotoGP qualifying

Ducati’s Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia signaled a return to shape via topping the free practice times for the Spanish MotoGP ahead of championship chief Fabio Quartararo on Saturday.

The pair will struggle for pole position in qualifying at the Jerez circuit later within the day for the sixth race of the 21-race season on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Bagnaia ran Quartararo a close second for the title in 2021 but made a poor start to this season before declaring that he was starting to “feel better on the bike” after an eight-place finish in last weekend’s race in Portugal.

Defending world champion Quartararo is running high on confidence after his win last weekend and flung his Yamaha around the track just a fraction of a second slower than Bagnaia.

In vibrant sunshine, the Japanese Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami turned into 0.33 on the quick, dry track.

Six-time world champion Marc Marquez becomes fourth at the tune wherein he has gained 3 times at this degree however also one on which he fell heavily, main to an extended injury lay-off in 2020.