MotoGP

Marquez 1-2 as radical Honda debuts: First Jerez MotoGP practice

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez led the way in the opening MotoGP practice at Jerez, after his brother Marc had headed most of the session.


Key moments

  • Ducati GP23s look strong
  • Aprilia in the mix again
  • Honda prototype public debut
  • Solid start for Pedrosa

It was a Marquez 1-2 for virtually the entirety of the 45-minute running, but the younger Marquez deciding to swap to a fresh soft front and rear combo for the closing stages allowed him to leapfrog Marc.

He finished the session on a 1m36.630s, half a second clear of his brother and team-mate.

While the elder Marquez's best lap had been set on his first run, his very final effort of the session was a 1m37.280s, on a soft front and medium rear that had together done 20 previous laps.

For comparison, this was seven tenths better than the fastest lap in the race last year, set on lap 19 of that contest.

Circuit of the Americas dominator Maverick Vinales was third, equipping a fresh medium rear late on to move up the order. Team-mate Aleix Espargaro also ran a fresh medium rear and lifted himself up into fourth place with his final lap.

Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli rode the fastest of the 2024-spec Ducatis to fifth place - with his GP24 peers Jorge Martin, Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini ninth, 12th and 13th respectively.

Dani Pedrosa, KTM, MotoGP

KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa was quickest of the RC16 riders in sixth, albeit by just 0.005s over Brad Binder.

The other wildcards, Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) and Stefan Bradl (Honda), were 23th and 24th, relegating Luca Marini (Honda) to last place.

Savadori is running what Aprilia has described as a "laboratory bike", featuring novelties that it hopes to campaign later in the season.

But while his RS-GP looks visually similar to those used by the full-time riders, Bradl's RC213V is a drastically different beast to the ones being raced by the Honda regulars - with major aero changes and a revised seat unit.

There were crashes during the session for Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Augusto Fernandez (Tech3 Gas Gas).

FP1 result

PosNameCarBest TimeGap Leader
1Alex MarquezDucati1m36.630s
2Marc MarquezDucati1m37.137s+0.507s
3Maverick ViñalesAprilia1m37.221s+0.591s
4Aleix EspargaróAprilia1m37.303s+0.673s
5Franco MorbidelliDucati1m37.547s+0.917s
6Marco BezzecchiDucati1m37.585s+0.955s
7Dani PedrosaKTM1m37.613s+0.983s
8Brad BinderKTM1m37.618s+0.988s
9Jorge MartinDucati1m37.635s+1.005s
10Pedro AcostaKTM1m37.642s+1.012s
11Fabio Di GiannantonioDucati1m37.724s+1.094s
12Francesco BagnaiaDucati1m37.792s+1.162s
13Enea BastianiniDucati1m37.886s+1.256s
14Fabio QuartararoYamaha1m38.012s+1.382s
15Miguel OliveiraAprilia1m38.049s+1.419s
16Jack MillerKTM1m38.078s+1.448s
17Alex RinsYamaha1m38.203s+1.573s
18Raul FernandezAprilia1m38.247s+1.617s
19Johann ZarcoHonda1m38.360s+1.730s
20Augusto FernandezKTM1m38.370s+1.740s
21Takaaki NakagamiHonda1m38.539s+1.909s
22Joan MirHonda1m38.574s+1.944s
23Lorenzo SavadoriAprilia1m38.728s+2.098s
24Stefan BradlHonda1m38.734s+2.104s
25Luca MariniHonda1m38.775s+2.145s
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