The ultimate round of an exciting 2024 MotoGP™ World Championship is well and truly underway, with Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez completing their first day at the Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona, exceptionally held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The GASGAS boys made the headlines in the morning’s opening FP1 after both were involved in a crash, forcing the session to be red flagged. Luckily, both were good and able to rejoin Free Practice 1. Both got on with their day, with Acosta qualifying directly to Q2 after finishing 9th of Practice, while Augusto Fernandez lacked pace, having to settle with P21.

Displaying for the final time Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 colours and his rookie etiquette, Pedro Acosta showed great pace early into the day. Despite his early crash in the morning’s Free Practice 1 with teammate Augusto Fernandez, the young shark showed his teeth right from the first session, as he took the second fastest time of FP1 in 1’40.912, behind Takaaki Nakagami who took the honours of the session on his final weekend in MotoGP™. Acosta was back in action in the afternoon with the key Practice session, and he showed once again confidence and competitiveness from the first laps. After having spent most of the session within the top 5, the young Shark was after the hot laps as just fifteen minutes remained on a clock, calling all riders for the time attacks. At that time, Acosta was in 4th with a 1’39.988, 0.159 seconds from Marco Bezzecchi in first. 5 minutes left on the clock to try to secure that Q2 ticket. Acosta was in 6th with a 1’39.418 while Johann Zarco was at the top with an impressive 1’39.197. Red sectors were showing all over the screens, and with just 1 minute to go, the young shark found himself in danger, now in 9th, in need of an improved lap. The yellow flag was shown with Joan Mir crashing in the final minutes, cancelling Acosta’s lap, with just one last flying lap remaining. The #31 was improving his lap, but a mistake from another rider ahead had him head straight in the gravel, calling it the end of his session. With no further improvements made from other riders, Pedro Acosta secured the 9th place, and will head directly to Q2 on Saturday morning.

Augusto Fernandez was excited to be back racing on home turf for his final round with the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 squad. In support of the community of Valencia, the Spaniard showcased a special helmet as we were #RacingForValencia. The day did not start in the best way for the #37 involved in a crash with his teammate right at the start of FP1. He was able to rejoin the action after a great job from his mechanics, to complete the opening session in P18 with a best lap in 1’41.711. In Practice, the Spaniard was able to find room for improvement to 1’40.669 as the time attacks slot began. Eventually, a late 1’40.635 saw him finish the session in P21. The Spaniard will need to show more speed on Saturday morning, should he wish to get a grid position that can allow him to fight for his target, the point-scoring positions.

The action will be back tomorrow for the last Super Saturday of the season, kicking off with Free Practice 2 at 10:10 (GMT+1), followed by the qualifying sessions. Finally, the last Tissot Sprint of 2024 will see its lights go out at 15:00, for 12 laps.