Bagnaia crashes post-session in bizarre start to MotoGP title decider

Title contender Pecco Bagnaia had a bizarre post-session crash in the opening practice for the Solidarity Grand Prix in Barcelona, which had a shock leader in Takaaki Nakagami and another unusual incident between Tech 3 team-mates.

Championship rivals Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia finished fifth and seventh respectively in the first session of this weekend's title decider. Bagnaia trails by 24-points and didn't have the best start to the weekend.

He crashed in the braking zone at Turn 1 after the session had ended as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales overtook him at speed after his practice start.

Vinales cut around the outside of Bagnaia into the corner, forcing the Ducati rider to brake and tumble off - prompting anger from both Bagnaia and the Ducati garage.

After an odd session involving a brief red flag and low track temperatures, Martin’s quickest time was a 1m40.971s, with Bagnaia 0.1s behind in seventh and the pair split by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini.

Fabio Di Giannantonio’s VR46 stand-in Michele Pirro crashed at Turn 5 early in the session, with Martin topping the times after the first flying laps while Bagnaia was third.

Soon after, the two Tech3 riders came together in a bizarre incident at Turn 5 which prompted a red flag. Departing rider Augusto Fernandez passed Pedro Acosta around the outside unsighted, with the two colliding and bursting the air fence.

After a short stoppage, Martin improved on his earlier time by 0.4s, setting a 1m41.820s as Bagnaia sat in fifth, 0.4s behind.

Alex Marquez was next to take the lead for Gresini, before Acosta topped the timesheet with a 1m40.912s.

Nakagami took a tumble at Turn 2 with 15 minutes remaining before setting the quickest time of the session - a 1m40.501s - on a fresh soft front and medium rear tyre. It's his final MotoGP weekend before he takes on a Honda test rider role.

Acosta finished the first practice session in second ahead of Alex Marquez, with KTM’s Brad Binder in fourth.

Martin, Bastianini and Bagnaia were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, ahead of Vinales, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez, in his last weekend with Gresini before he moves to the factory Ducati team next year.