The 11th round of the 2023 season marks the beginning of a frantic run in to the end of the year over the next 10 events, with the Catalan GP the first of a back-to-back with Misano.
Espargaro – who last year lost a podium after miscounting how many laps he had remaining, and who is now wearing a special helmet referencing this – kicked off proceedings fastest of all with a 1m39.809s set on fresh soft rubber at the end of FP1.
