Joan Mir leads Suzuki 1-2 in the opening practice of Spanish MotoGP at Jerez

In the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, Joan Mir took the lead ahead of Suzuki teammate Alex Rins, while Fabio Quartararo crashed out early.

After heavy rain in the region on Thursday, the Jerez venue began out mainly dry but with many moist patches sprinkled across the lap, requiring the 25 riders competing this weekend to stay on the dry racing line to prevent any potential complications.

Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo, was fastest out of the gates on one of his favourite courses, clocking a 1:38.780s to beat Honda’s Marc Marquez, but he would soon run into trouble after falling out on his next attempt at the final turn.

While attempting to pass Gresini’s Fabio Di Gianantonio, the Frenchman’s M1 slid out from under him and threw him to the ground; fortunately, he only sustained a groin injury, and after a brief time-out, he was back in action in the closing minutes – though he failed to improve his time after several more off-track excursions.

In the meantime, Pol Espargaro gained command at the front of the timings, but this was short-lived as Mir lifted his GSX-RR to the top of the tree with a 1:38.422s, a time that appeared like it would hold until LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez pipped him with just a few minutes still on the clock.

Mir quickly counteracted the balance with a 1:38.194s to take the lead in the first test of the weekend, ahead of teammate Rins, who managed to sneak past Marquez on his final effort.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was fourth fastest ahead of Quartararo, while Takaaki Nakagami’s second LCR machine finished sixth overall, the Japanese pilot looking excellent to capture the lead before making a mistake at the penultimate corner.

Takaaki Nakagami was initially second to Mir after a late shift of pace, but his next lap appeared destined to put him first. However, as he approached turn 13, the LCR Honda driver misjudged his brakes and ran wide.

Alex Marquez stormed to the top with just under a minute remaining despite displaying no pace during the session; however, Mir fought back instantly to reclaim first place.

KTM’s highest-placed rider, Brad Binder, finished seventh ahead of Pol, with Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia and Ducati’s Jack Miller rounding out the top ten.

Marc Marquez finished 11th after failing to improve his pace as the conditions improved later in the race, while Enea Bastianini placed 12th, barely ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, who had lost the points lead due to crashing out previous weekend in Portugal.

Pramac duo Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco finished 14th and 17th, respectively, in FP1, with Marco Bezzecchi finishing 18th.

Raul Fernandez was ruled out of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend prior to FP1 due to a right-hand injury sustained at Portimao, and the Tech 3 KTM rider is now attempting to recover in time for the French race at Le Mans in two weeks.

SPANISH MOTOGP, JEREZ – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS