Aprilia dominated the opening session of MotoGP’s Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona, with Aleix Espargaro leading the way.
Key moments:
> Aprilia leads on soft and medium rear
> Marquez crashes, top Honda 17th
> Only three riders within a second out front
The nimble Aprilia RS-GP was always expected to go well in Barcelona and, combined with its known prowess for being fast out of the box, it meant seeing the two Aprilias out front in the 45-minute first practice was no real surprise.
The margin, however, was something of an eyebrow-raiser.
After Maverick Vinales had lifted himself to the front by swapping to a medium rear midway the session, team-mate Espargaro bolted on a soft front-soft rear combination and had little trouble getting back ahead.
He was one of just two riders to go for a soft-rear push in the session – but the other was renowned good qualifier Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati), and Espargaro was four and a half tenths clear, with Vinales also ahead of Martin.
That's just ridiculous really isn't it 😅@88jorgemartin 🔥#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/DR0AnhVl03
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 1, 2023
The rest of the field were all over a second behind home hero Espargaro.
Brad Binder used a fresh medium in the latter stages to lift himself to fourth for KTM, followed by championship leader Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Espargaro’s brother Pol (Tech3 Gas Gas).
Miguel Oliveira made it three Aprilias in the top seven with his year-old RNF-run bike, while Franco Morbidelli led the way for Yamaha in eighth.
The lead Honda of the four RC213Vs was Joan Mir’s, only 17th, 1.530s off the pace.
A late FP1 mishap for @marcmarquez93! 💥
A corner that's caught out many riders over the years ⚠️#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/IibPxNDuQm
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 1, 2023
And the sole crash of the session belonged to a Honda, too – Marc Marquez’s.
Marquez has been seeking to ride in a more risk-averse way after his injury-strewn first half of 2023, but tipped down on entry to the sharp Turn 5 left-hander in the closing minutes.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1m39.809s | ||
| 2 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.264s | +0.264s | 1m40.073s |
| 3 | Jorge Martin | Prima Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.2s | +0.464s | 1m40.273s |
| 4 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.586s | +1.05s | 1m40.859s |
| 5 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.041s | +1.091s | 1m40.9s |
| 6 | Pol Espargaró | GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 | KTM | +0.017s | +1.108s | 1m40.917s |
| 7 | Miguel Oliveira | CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | +0.027s | +1.135s | 1m40.944s |
| 8 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.06s | +1.195s | 1m41.004s |
| 9 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.007s | +1.202s | 1m41.011s |
| 10 | Johann Zarco | Prima Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.006s | +1.208s | 1m41.017s |
| 11 | Jack Miller | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.127s | +1.335s | 1m41.144s |
| 12 | Alex Marquez | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.021s | +1.356s | 1m41.165s |
| 13 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.018s | +1.374s | 1m41.183s |
| 14 | Augusto Fernandez | GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 | KTM | +0.035s | +1.409s | 1m41.218s |
| 15 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.047s | +1.456s | 1m41.265s |
| 16 | Marco Bezzecchi | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.039s | +1.495s | 1m41.304s |
| 17 | Joan Mir | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.035s | +1.53s | 1m41.339s |
| 18 | Luca Marini | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.062s | +1.592s | 1m41.401s |
| 19 | Raul Fernandez | CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | +0.003s | +1.595s | 1m41.404s |
| 20 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.002s | +1.597s | 1m41.406s |
| 21 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.042s | +1.639s | 1m41.448s |
| 22 | Iker Lecuona | LCR Honda CASTROL | Honda | +0.477s | +2.116s | 1m41.925s |
