Marquez crashes but leads Teruel GP FP1 by four tenths

Honda rookie Alex Marquez topped the first practice for the Teruel Grand Prix at Aragon by four tenths, despite crashing at the very end.

Marquez’s fall was a minor blip in what was otherwise a sublime session for his Japanese employer, with its RC213Vs occupying three spots in the top four.

Riders were immediately much faster in this opening practice than in the corresponding session from a week ago, and Aragon GP podium finisher Marquez led the way initially on a 1m48.622s.

Honda stablemate Takaaki Nakagami, who had sealed a new multi-year Honda deal heading into the weekend, went three tenths faster shortly before halfway, and kept the top spot until the dying minutes of the session.

Equipped with a fresh medium front and soft rear combination, which worked so well for him in last Sunday’s race, Marquez reclaimed the spot with two minutes to go, courtesy of a 1m48.184s.

He was then marginally quicker through the first three sectors of his final lap but fell at the very final corner, letting go of his RC213V as it slid into the barriers.

Nakagami didn’t improve late on and ended up 0.438s off the pace, but was still nearly four tenths quicker than the next-fastest rider, Suzuki’s championship leader Joan Mir.

And Mir only narrowly denied Honda a 1-2-3, with Marc Marquez’s stand-in Stefan Bradl 0.010s slower than the Suzuki rider in fourth.

Petronas Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli took fifth place, while his title-contending team-mate Fabio Quartararo was only 17th, having spent most of the session in that place.

With Valentino Rossi sidelined by COVID-19 and Yamaha electing not to replace him for this weekend, its sole factory representative Maverick Vinales was the final rider within a second of Marquez in sixth.

Pramac rider Jack Miller was the top Ducati in seventh, ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and KTM’s Pol Espargaro, while LCR’s Cal Crutchlow made it all four Hondas in the top 10, hindered by a late-session bike issue.

Suzuki’s Aragon GP winner Alex Rins was12 th, while Ducati’s leading title contender Andrea Dovizioso was only a place ahead of Quartararo in 16th.

Practice 1 Results