Aldeguer climbs from 11th to sixth on his return

Fermín Aldeguer turned a poor qualifying into sixth place in his first Sprint since his Assen injury and three missed Grands Prix. Starting 11th, the Gresini rider initially protected his comeback, then accelerated on the medium rear and passed Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira in the fight for sixth.

Aldeguer blamed his grid position on lost reference with the extra grip of a new tyre: after two months away he made errors while seeking the limit. Yet late laps in the 1:46s showed top-six race pace.

Most encouragingly, he finished without significant pain and described himself as almost back to normal. Sunday doubles the distance, so his task is to survive the opening lap from 11th before using pace and tyre management.