A complicated first day of track action at the Spanish GP saw both Repsol Honda Team riders tumble, Joan Mir eventually finishing the day in 18th as Iker Lecuona closed the gap to the top riders. The 2023 Spanish GP is building to be a memorable Grand Prix wee View this email in your browser   Practice Report Friday, Apr 28th 2023   Gran Premio de Espana MotoGP 2023   Round 4 Progress on Honda debut for Lecuona as Mir targets recovery A complicated first day of track action at the Spanish GP saw both Repsol Honda Team riders tumble, Joan Mir eventually finishing the day in 18th as Iker Lecuona closed the gap to the top riders. The 2023 Spanish GP is building to be a memorable Grand Prix weekend with blazing temperatures and fans already flocking to the hills surrounding the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. Excited to run in front of their home crowd, the Repsol Honda Team began to build their weekend from the first moments of Free Practice 1. Temperatures would steadily rise throughout the day, making for treacherous track conditions, but Mir and Lecuona persisted in their quest for improvements. It proved to be a complicated day for double-World Champion Joan Mir, suffering two falls in the afternoon. Unharmed in both falls, Mir and his side of the Repsol Honda Team garage have already begun work on preparing for Saturday's crucial Qualifying sessions and the Sprint Race afterwards. The hot temperatures beating down on the 4.4 kilometers of the Jerez circuit made for difficult conditions, but look set to remain for the weekend. With less than a second dividing the top 17 riders, even an improvement of just a tenth could be enough to see Mir in the mix for Q2. Iker Lecuona made his MotoGP return, and his Honda MotoGP debut, in front of the enthusiastic Spanish GP crowd. Friday was all about adjustments and getting comfortable on the Honda RC213V, times and results were of no major focus for the 23-year-old from Valencia. From a 1'40.509 in FP1, Lecuona was able to end the day with a best time of 1'39.274 – an improvement of over one second. On the combined times, the #27 was 1.4 second behind HRC Test Rider Stefan Bradl, the German intimately familiar with the Jerez circuit after a number of tests here. A solid debut day. Joan Mir  36 18th  1'37.850 "It was not the best day today honestly, it was very complicated. We had two crashes today, one at Turn Five and one at Turn Six – the second one was a bit bigger but we are OK. When temperatures are high like this it makes everything more complicated, every point in the lap is more critical. Our feeling in the morning was not too bad but it looks like the race will be quite hot so we need to work to prepare the bike and ourselves for these conditions." Iker Lecuona  27 24th  1'39.274 "What a day! It is incredible to come back to MotoGP and with a team like the Repsol Honda Team, it has been a real pleasure to work with all of them. The crash today at Turn 13 was frustrating, finally I am a racer and I always want to be faster! We understood why we crashed and already for tomorrow the team have suggested a few things to improve the bike and try some things. I am quite close to Bradl considering our circumstances and this is something we have to focus on and be positive about." Friday Practice - Spanish Grand Prix Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1'36.708 2 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.002 3 Pedrosa Dani SPA 0.062 4 Martin Jorge 89 SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.096 5 Miller Jack 43 AUS Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.127 6 Zarco Johann 5 FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.188 7 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 0.248 8 Marquez Alex 73 SPA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 0.333 9 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda Honda 0.336 10 Marini Luca 10 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 0.345 11 Binder Brad 33 RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.389 12 Bezzecchi Marco 72 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 0.466 13 Bagnaia Francesco 1 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.525 14 Fernandez Raul 25 SPA RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 0.695 15 Rins Alex 42 SPA LCR Honda Honda 0.779 16 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.797 17 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.992 18 Mir Joan 36 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1.142 19 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 1.152 20 Bradl Stefan 6 GER Team HRC Honda 1.165 21 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1.277 22 Fernandez Augusto 37 SPA Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 1.570 23 Folger Jonas 94 GER Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 1.990 24 Lecuona Iker 27 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2.566 Copyright Free Images For editorial use only, click here to download images. Location Information Built in 1986 and hosting its first Grand Prix one year later, the circuit of Jerez is now one of the most popular MotoGP venues and the focal point for a city fanatical about sport. Set in a slight valley in the south of Spain, Jerez is blessed with consistently… read more. Length 4.423 kilometres / 2.748 miles Width 11 metres Left corners 5 Right corners 8 Longest straight 0.607 kilometres / 0.377 miles Constructed 1986 Modified 2002 Resurfacing Complete resurfacing before 2018 round Circuit Records Pole Position 1m 36.170s (165.5km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) Race Lap 1m 37.669s (163.0km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) Race Time 41m 00.554s (161.7km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) 2022 Race Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) Circuito de Jerez, Jerez, Spain –  View in Google Maps www.circuitodejerez.com You are receiving this email because you have registered your interest with Honda Racing CorporationIf you no longer want to receive emails from Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP, please click here to unsubscribe .