MotoGP

MotoGP Spanish GP: Alex Marquez leads Gresini 1-2 in FP1

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1w ago

Apr 26, 2024 / 820 Views

Two weeks on from a double disaster for Gresini Ducati at the Americas GP when both Alex and Marc Marquez suffered crashes, the brothers led the 45-minute FP1 at Jerez on Friday morning.

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez led for much of the session, but ended up 0.507 seconds adrift of his team-mate Alex Marquez after he fitted fresh soft tyres to produce a 1m36.630s at the end of FP1.

Americas GP winner Maverick Vinales led an Aprilia 3-4 from Aleix Espargaro, while Franco Morbidelli was fifth on the leading factory-spec Ducati for Pramac.

Championship leader Jorge Martin was a low-key ninth on the sister Pramac Ducati, while reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia was 12th.

Vinales picked up where he left off at the Circuit of the Americas by setting the early pace in FP1 at Jerez with a 1m39.113s inside the first five minutes of the session.

This was quickly beaten by Marc Marquez on a 1m38.784s, before Vinales fired in a 1m38.738s just seconds later.

Trackhouse Racing Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez was the next rider to move to the top of the order with a 1m38.637s with six minutes of the session gone.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

But he would find himself quickly deposed as Marc Marquez went on a run of session-best laps that began with a 1m37.768s and culminated in a 1m37.137s.

That stood as the benchmark until the final four minutes, when Alex Marquez began lighting up the timing screens on fresh soft rubber to take top spot away from his brother with a 1m36.630s.

With nobody else electing to run fresh soft rubber, Alex Marquez remained out of reach as the chequered flag brought FP1 to an end.

Marc Marquez held onto second by 0.084s from Vinales after a later surge from the factory Aprilia duo cemented them third and fourth.

Morbidelli completed the top five, 0.244s further adrift, as he made a strong start to the weekend at the venue he scored his last MotoGP podium in 2021 with Petronas SRT Yamaha.

Marco Bezzecchi was an encouraging sixth on the VR46 Ducati after his difficult start to 2024, while KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa led the Austrian manufacturer’s contingent from Brad Binder.

Martin and Tech3’s Pedro Acosta completed the top 10, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) putting his year-old Ducati between Acosta and factory Ducati rider Bagnaia.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Fabio Quartararo was the leading Yamaha in 14th behind the second factory Ducati of Enea Bastianini, who comes to Jerez second in the standings, while top Honda honours went to Johann Zarco in 19th.

However, the LCR rider did suffer a crash with 20 minutes of the session to go at Turn 8. Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez in 20th was the only other faller in FP1.

Aprilia wildcard Lorenzo Savadori was 23rd on the RS-GP lab bike, while Honda’s additional entry Stefan Bradl was a place behind on an RC213V with various revisions headlined by a radical rear wing.

MotoGP Spanish GP - FP1 results

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	20	1'36.630		164.781
2	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	21	+0.507 1'37.137	0.507	163.921
3	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	19	+0.591 1'37.221	0.084	163.779
4	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	17	+0.673 1'37.303	0.082	163.641
5	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	22	+0.917 1'37.547	0.244	163.232
6	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	19	+0.955 1'37.585	0.038	163.168
7	D. Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	26	KTM	20	+0.983 1'37.613	0.028	163.121
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	20	+0.988 1'37.618	0.005	163.113
9	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	18	+1.005 1'37.635	0.017	163.084
10	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	20	+1.012 1'37.642	0.007	163.073
11	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	18	+1.094 1'37.724	0.082	162.936
12	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	17	+1.162 1'37.792	0.068	162.823
13	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	19	+1.256 1'37.886	0.094	162.666
14	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	15	+1.382 1'38.012	0.126	162.457
15	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	20	+1.419 1'38.049	0.037	162.396
16	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	20	+1.448 1'38.078	0.029	162.348
17	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	15	+1.573 1'38.203	0.125	162.141
18	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	16	+1.617 1'38.247	0.044	162.069
19	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	19	+1.730 1'38.360	0.113	161.882
20	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	14	+1.740 1'38.370	0.010	161.866
21	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	19	+1.909 1'38.539	0.169	161.588
22	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	18	+1.944 1'38.574	0.035	161.531
23	L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team	32	Aprilia	17	+2.098 1'38.728	0.154	161.279
24	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6	Honda	20	+2.104 1'38.734	0.006	161.269
25	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	21	+2.145 1'38.775	0.041	161.202
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