Aspar’s Karel Abraham sensationally ended the first day of track action in Argentina as top Ducati rider, after he dragged his two-year-old GP15 to third on the timesheets in FP2.
A one-time grand prix winner in the Moto2 class, Abaraham returns to MotoGP this year having spent 2016 in the World Superbike Championship with Milwaukee BMW.
His season proved to be a difficult one; a new bike to learn, plus a lack of support from BMW led to Abraham scoring just one top 10 finish across the season.
Making his first grand prix appearance since 2015 last time out in Qatar, Abraham scored points with a 14th place finish. Eager to carry on that form on what he describes as the ‘best bike’ he’s ever ridden, Abraham kicked off proceedings at Termas de Rio Hondo in the best possible fashion.
“The Ducati has always been a good fit for me,” he said.
“I was close to finishing as the Rookie of the Year on it in 2011 and now I am back on a Ducati I can say I think this is the best bike I have ever ridden.
“I am happy to be near the top, we will keep working hard to stay here and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Abraham began the day well, finishing FP1 fifth fastest and just over three tenths off the pace. For much of FP2, the Czech rider worked with used rubber and was able to maintain a spot inside the top 10 whilst displaying a decent long run pace.
As the session drew to a close, fitted with a fresh medium rear tyre, Abraham tucked in behind team-mate Alvaro Bautista and posted a 1m39.880s to go top initially, before being bumped back to third.
The Aspar rider heads into Saturday’s running just four tenths of a second off the pace of Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and half a second clear of the nearest factory Desmosedici of Andrea Dovizioso in 14th, something he is understandably thrilled with.
“There was a little more grip this morning that this afternoon, but everybody managed to improve,” he added.
“We started the second session on the same tyre we finished the first one with and managed to put race distance on it with good lap times at the end.
“This morning we were already in the top five and to finish third at the end of the day is very satisfying.”
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