What went down in first MotoGP practice at Jerez

Joan Mir led a Suzuki 1-2 in the opening MotoGP practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, as Fabio Quartararo crashed.

---

Key moments:

> Mir and Rins 0.025s apart

> Groin pain for Quartararo

> No Fernandez again

---

A big pre-event favourite due to both his exceptional past record at Jerez and his win last time out at Portimao, Quartararo was setting the pace right away in the session occupied first place when he fell at the Jorge Lorenzo corner.

The rear of his Yamaha stepped out on him moments after he’d passed Gresini Ducati rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Quartararo took a painful hit on the groin from the M1’s rear wheel as he fell – but he was able to remount the bike and wheel it back into pitlane.

An early spill for the World Champ! 💥@FabioQ20 takes a hit to a rather sensitive area! 😯#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/Q6I7mFuE73

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 29, 2022

By the time he was back out, Honda’s Pol Espargaro had deposed him from the top spot, and while Quartararo was back on pace straight away, he was unable to reclaim first place – with his last proper attempt ending with a lengthy ride through the gravel after an off at the Sito Pons corner.

Instead, it was Mir claiming top honours, having first usurped Espargaro and then retaken the top spot from LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez in the final seconds.

Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins then slotted into second, just 0.025s off Mir, at the chequered flag, with the younger Marquez completing the top three ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Quartararo.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) was just 0.264s off the pace in sixth, followed by KTM’s Brad Binder and Pol Espargaro, who made it three Hondas in the top eight – with the sole remaining one, that of six-time champion Marc Marquez, in 11th.

Though the presence of test riders Stefan Bradl and Lorenzo Savadori has raised the entry list number above the usual 24, the Tech3 KTM is down to just Remy Gardner this weekend, with Raul Fernandez sidelined for a second consecutive race due to lingering pain in his right hand – which he’d injured in a qualifying crash at Portimao.

Having been passed unfit on Thursday and Friday, Fernandez will now miss not only the Jerez race but the post-race test on Monday, too.

Practice 1 Results