Pedro Acosta has demonstrated his superiority during the practice day of the MotoGP Hungarian GP, placing himself at the forefront with a time that surpasses the second-placed, Fabio di Giannantonio from VR46, by more than four tenths.
The KTM Factory Racing rider recorded a best time of 1m36.827s towards the end of the one-hour session, achieving the first position just before the halfway point of the event.
Di Giannantonio, who made a very fast final attempt, placed second, while Raul Fernandez, representing Trackhouse, secured a spot on the podium in third place with his Aprilia.
From the start, Fermin Aldeguer from Gresini opted for the soft tire at the rear and surpassed the FP1 record of Marc Marquez with a time of 1m38.626s on his first quick lap.
Aldeguer improved his time to 1m38.162s shortly after, marking the best initial lap until then, and gained a four-tenth advantage over Acosta.
On the other hand, the Italian Marco Bezzecchi from Aprilia managed to reduce the gap to just 0.013s with medium tires, but it was when Acosta switched to soft tires that he managed to displace Aldeguer from the top spot.
About 25 minutes after the start, Acosta set the first lap below one minute 38, and with a time of 1m38.418s secured his leading position.
Bezzecchi and Marquez also achieved times below one minute 37, with the latter standing out for his performance with already used medium tires, but Acosta was firmly in control with half a second advantage at the halfway mark of the practice.
In the final minutes, all riders opted for new soft tires, intensifying the battle for direct qualification to Q2.
Aldeguer closed the gap to Acosta to just 0.022s on his penultimate lap, but Fernandez managed to lead for Trackhouse with three minutes remaining.
Acosta, however, quickly responded to Fernandez’s mark to extend his advantage back to half a second as the clock hit zero.
Finally, the KTM rider finished the day with a 0.413s advantage over the rest, with Di Giannantonio as the closest rival in third place, followed by Fernandez in fourth place and Aldeguer in fifth.
Fernandez’s teammate, Ai Ogura, showed great progress, finishing fifth, ahead of another Aprilia rider, Bezzecchi. Marquez, who had been the fastest in the first session, secured a place in Q2 with the seventh-best time, despite suffering a track excursion towards the end.
The LCR rookie, Diogo Moreira, was the best Honda rider, finishing eighth, while Jorge Martin, 2024 Aprilia Champion, closed the top 10.
On the other hand, Francesco Bagnaia, two-time MotoGP Champion, had a tough day at Balaton Park, finishing in 14th position after a tricky moment in the last chicane.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI