Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro had another stellar day of testing on Friday as MotoGP began three days at Mandalika International in Indonesia.

Sitting second in the standings after the inaugural day on Lombok Island, having registered one of only three laps under the 1’33 barrier, Espargaro was pleased with the day’s work if annoyed that he had to play second fiddle to younger brother Pol.

“Unfortunately I would like to swap the order!” he joked of the family battle at the top of the times. “I don't know if happy is the word but satisfied with the work,” he continued. “The track has to improve a lot still on the next days so it's difficult to take any conclusion today but overall I enjoy today. Especially the second part of the day, the track is not very tricky, but is fun, very fast change directions.

“It's just another day of testing but we prove that once again the Aprilia is fast, that we've been close to the top guys all day overall, so I'm happy.

“From Tuesday when I came to the track, I saw that the layout was looking quite good for our bike and today we confirm this. Looks like in the fast change direction the Aprilia is working good so overall I'm happy and satisfied. This circuit in some places is quite different than Malaysia and Sepang, so overall to place the bike on top or with the best bikes is good, is nice. So yeah, let's see the next two days.”

While the paddock remains locked down to fans due to ongoing pandemic restrictions, the World Championship’s presence in Indonesia has been well noted.

“How crazy is the love for the MotoGP of the Indonesian people?” Espargaro commented. "Has been more than 25 years since last time we raced here so everybody was waiting for us since the first day we arrived. The warm welcome, not for me but for every MotoGP rider has been fantastic on social media. Unfortunately we can just see this on social media because due to Covid we cannot see the fans here in the track but it's good to be in a place like this. Even if the circuit still needs to be improved but this place is good and I thank them so much.”