MotoGP

Quartararo tops opening Valencia MotoGP practice, Bagnaia 17th

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

Defending champion Fabio Quartararo set the pace in the opening practice session for the MotoGP title decider in Valencia, with points leader Pecco Bagnaia only 17th.

Key moments:

> Quartararo leads by 0.035s

> Marquez crashes at Turn 2

> Bagnaia 17th but just six tenths off

Quartararo sat second, a tenth off leader Marc Marquez, at the halfway point of the session (which Marquez marked by crashing at Turn 2), before soon jumping 0.035s ahead of Honda man courtesy of a run using a fresh medium front tyre.

Bagnaia, meanwhile, was 17th at the halfway point and, despite a subsequent laptime improvement, ended up with that very position in the classification – but seemed unperturbed, nonchalantly waving to the crowd after a session in which he didn’t elect to fit fresh rubber late on.

The Italian needs just a 14th-place finish this weekend to make sure of the title regardless of what Quartararo does.

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A late push on new mediums, front and rear, elevated KTM’s Brad Binder to third place, just seven hundredths behind Quartararo.

Bagnaia’s team-mate Jack Miller was relegated to fourth by his future KTM team-mate Binder, with Alex Rins kicking off Suzuki’s farewell MotoGP weekend with fifth place and the Pramac duo of Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin making it three Ducatis in the top seven.

LCR Honda returnee Takaaki Nakagami ended his first MotoGP session since his Motegi ride with an injured hand necessitated a follow-up surgery in penultimate place.

Nakagami, who was passed fit to ride but said on Thursday that he would evaluate after FP1 whether there would be a point to completing the weekend, was 1.6s off the pace and ahead of only RNF Yamaha rookie Darryn Binder – who was limited to nine laps after he had a technical issue on his first bike and then crashed his second.

Practice 1 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1m31.399s
2 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.035s +0.035s 1m31.434s
3 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.036s +0.071s 1m31.47s
4 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.072s +0.143s 1m31.542s
5 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.022s +0.165s 1m31.564s
6 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati +0.12s +0.285s 1m31.684s
7 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.078s +0.363s 1m31.762s
8 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.013s +0.376s 1m31.775s
9 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.007s +0.383s 1m31.782s
10 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.027s +0.41s 1m31.809s
11 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.065s +0.475s 1m31.874s
12 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.007s +0.482s 1m31.881s
13 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.034s +0.516s 1m31.915s
14 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.002s +0.518s 1m31.917s
15 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.06s +0.578s 1m31.977s
16 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.016s +0.594s 1m31.993s
17 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.006s +0.6s 1m31.999s
18 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.069s +0.669s 1m32.068s
19 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.048s +0.717s 1m32.116s
20 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.043s +0.76s 1m32.159s
21 Cal Crutchlow WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.115s +0.875s 1m32.274s
22 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.33s +1.205s 1m32.604s
23 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.378s +1.583s 1m32.982s
24 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.987s +2.57s 1m33.969s
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