Marc Marquez made a welcome return to the Grand Prix grid as the Aragon GP began, ending the day in eighth with Pol Espargaro looking to rally on Saturday.
All eyes, and cameras, were on the Repsol Honda Team garage as Friday dawned in MotorLand Aragon with Marc Marquez making his much-anticipated return to competition. Although still recovering from the fourth surgery on his right arm, Marquez wasted little time in getting to work and headed out as soon as Free Practice 1 began. The session was spent getting back up to speed and understanding the 2022 Honda RC213V around the Aragon circuit, one of Marquez’s favourite tracks.
From Free Practice 2, the #93 and his team began to explore further as they tried a new swing arm on the Honda machine. Setting his fastest lap of the weekend so far, a 1’47.761, with the new swing arm provided a positive boost to the day. Ending Friday as the eighth fastest rider overall and within 0.4s of the quickest time was further demonstration of Marquez’s fitness level and the recent developments made to the RC213V.
Pol Espargaro endured a more complicated start to the Aragon GP as he worked to improve the setting and performance of his Honda. With the MotoGP field continuing to get closer and closer, just a few tenths can be the difference between the top ten and the top 20. 23rd on the combined times is not where Espargaro nor the Repsol Honda Team are looking to finish, and an intense evening of work is ahead to look for solutions.