MotoGP Spain 2023 will be held at the Jerez Circuit this weekend, starting from Friday (28/4/2023) to Sunday (30/4/2023). This racing series will be a tough test for the drivers who are struggling to get the best points and positions in the 2023 MotoGP standings.
Currently, Marco Bezzecchi from Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati still leads the standings with 64 points, followed by his factory colleague Francesco Bagnaia with 53 points. In third place is Alex Rins from LCR Honda Castrol with 48 points, while in fourth place is Fabio Quartararo from Monster Energy Yamaha with 47 points.
Spanish MotoGP Qualification Schedule
The 2023 Spanish MotoGP series will begin with the first (FP1) and second (FP2) free practice sessions on Friday (28/4/2023) at 15.00 CEST (local time). In session P2, Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia Racing managed to become the fastest with a time of 1 minute 36.708 seconds, beating Maverick Vinales from Monster Energy Yamaha and Jack Miller from Ducati Lenovo Team.
Furthermore, on Saturday (29/4/2023) the third free practice session (FP3), qualification and sprint race will be held. Qualifying will determine pole position for Sunday’s main race. There will be two qualifying sessions, namely Q1 at 10:50 – 11:05 CEST and Q2 at 11:15 – 11:30 CEST.
Spanish MotoGP Sprint Race Schedule
Sprint races are a new format introduced this season, which are short races where only half of the points are won. First place will get a total of 12 points, second place will get 9 points, third place will get 7 points, and so on until ninth place will get 1 point. Sprint race will be held at 20.00 WIB.
The main race MotoGP Spain 2023 will be held on Sunday (30/4/2023) at 15.00 CEST, after a warm-up session at 09.45 CEST. This is the fourth race in the 2023 MotoGP series which is expected to be an exciting and fierce race between the riders.
Dani Pedrosa Leads FP1
One of the racers in the spotlight is Dani Pedrosa from KTM Factory Racing, who will be a wildcard in this series. Pedrosa is a legendary rider who has been retired since the end of the 2018 season, but is still active as a development rider for KTM. This is the second time Pedrosa has become a wildcard for KTM, having previously appeared at the 2022 Austrian MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring Circuit and finished tenth.
Pedrosa managed to record the best time in the first practice session (FP1) for the 2023 Spanish MotoGP with a time of 1 minute 37.810 seconds. In the FP2 session, he managed to complete the second practice session with +0.543 seconds from Aleix Espargaro and finished ninth.
Pedrosa said that he couldn’t wait to race this time, because it had been a while since he had raced in Austria. He also said that he wanted to develop the KTM RC16 bike by testing several tires this weekend. Apart from that, he is also curious about the new sprint race format, which according to him will provide a new experience for himself and his team. He hopes to make a positive contribution to KTM and their regular riders.
