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MotoGP: What did we learn from the opening day at Balaton Park Circuit?

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With the action having kicked off at the brand-new Balaton Park Circuit, F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers some key takeaways from the paddock on the opening day at the MotoGP Grand Prix of Hungary.

Strong performance - KTM looked in perfect form on the opening day at the brand-new Balaton park Circuit. Despite his crash in the dying stages of Practice, Pedro Acosta set the quickest lap with 1m37.061s.

Although his team-mate Brad Binder was eight tenths down on the Spaniard, ending up only 15th, the two Tech 3 KT riders Enea Bastiani and Pol Espargaro, who stood in to replace Maverick Vinales, took an impressive fifth ad eighth, respectively.

0.006s -Although Acosta ended up quickest on Friday, there was nothing to chose between him and fellow Spaniard Marc Márquez. The six-time champion was the quickest man out there halfway through the session, but he was fractionally beaten by the KTM’s sensation when the chequered flag fell.

Struggles continue - Following a disappointing perfromance last time out at the Red Bull Ring, Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia continued to struggle on the opening day at the Grand Prix of Hungary. The two time world champion ended up only 14th fastest in Practice, 0.728s adrift of pace-setter, Pedro Acosta.

His disappointing result means that the Italian will need to take part in the opening qualifying session and attempt to progress into the second segment on Saturday.

Better than expected - Yamaha suffered a disastrous weekend last time out at Spielberg. The Iwata factory arrived at Balatonfokajar in pessimistic mood, expecting its bike to struggle on a track where traction is vital.

The Yamaha riders did not look too comfortable in the early part of the all-important Friday's session, but 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo achieved a big jump in the final part of Practice, improving to tenth place and thus securing a spot in Q2. His team-mate, Alex Rins, however, was not able to find the pace, and ended up last on the leaderboard.

Unusual one Having fired his way to P1 in Practice, Pedro Acosta was left to praise the layout of the brand-new Balaton Park Circuit, but he acknowledged that then Hungarian track is an unusual one due to its width.

“I mean [it was] quite tough, the first FP1, I was not managing any of the chicanes of the track, but we were working super hard during the day to make the setup better. It is true that it is an unusual track, even on the MotoGP bike, it feels quite small,” concluded the Spaniard.

Shock result- Three big names failed to make it out of the danger zone. Bagnaia’s struggles are well-documented, but reigning champion Jorge Martin also failed to earn an automatic progression into Q2.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzechi, who recorded for podium finishes either in the sprint or the main race in the last four rounds, took only 12th.


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