Takaaki Nakagami edged Pedro Acosta to secure the fastest laptime in the opening practice session for the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP 2024.
The session which was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya marked an exciting start to the MotoGP season finale.
Takaaki Nakagami‘s performance was particularly noteworthy as it comes during a significant weekend for him, being his last full-time appearance in MotoGP. The LCR Honda rider finished just ahead of Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta who trailed by a mere 0.411 seconds.
The opening practice for the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP 2024 took place under cool conditions with the threat of rain looming, which added an element of unpredictability to the proceedings.
The practice began at 10:45 AM local time and lasted for approximately 45 minutes, allowing riders to familiarize themselves with the track and test their setups ahead of qualifying and the race weekend.
Nakagami set his best time on lap 16 out of 18, showcasing both consistency and speed as he pushed his Honda RC213V to its limits. Acosta’s impressive showing as a rookie in this highly competitive environment indicates his growing prowess and adaptability in MotoGP.
Following Nakagami and Acosta were Alex Marquez from Gresini Ducati and Brad Binder from Red Bull KTM, who finished third and fourth respectively. Marquez’s time was just 0.414 seconds off Nakagami’s pace, while Binder was slightly behind him at 0.451 seconds.
The close grouping at the top of the timesheets suggests that the competition is fierce at the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP 2024 as riders contend for crucial points in the championship standings.
Championship leader Jorge Martin finished fifth in this session with a time +0.470 seconds behind Nakagami. His performance was particularly critical as he aims to maintain his lead over defending champion Francesco Bagnaia, who ended up seventh after a crash in the closing moments of practice.
Bagnaia’s incident happened after he attempted a practice start and lost control while being overtaken by Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales, leading to a minor fall that fortunately left Pecco unscathed but lost valuable time that could have been used to further refine his setup.
Factory Ducati’s Enea Bastianini managed to secure sixth place despite experiencing some front-end issues earlier in the session while Viñales finished eighth, showing promise with his lap times as he looks to finish the season strong after some inconsistent performances earlier in the year.
KTM’s Jack Miller and Gresini’s Marc Marquez completed the top ten, with both riders showcasing their skills and experience on track.
The tight times among the top ten riders – seperated by only 0.447 seconds – highlighted how competitive the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP 2024 is expected to be as they now prepare for qualifying sessions where they will seek to secure advantageous grid positions.
Fabio Quartararo and Luca Marini found themselves outside of the top ten, finishing in 11th and 12th places respectively. Quartararo’s struggles continue as he attempts to find a competitive edge on his Yamaha machine while Marini seeks to capitalize on any opportunities presented during qualifying.
Meanwhile, Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli faced challenges throughout practice and ended up in 13th place after an early crash at Turn 2 while hometown hero Aleix Espargaro finished down in 14th in his last-ever race weekend.
The second LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco finished 15th ahead of VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi. Alex Rins and Augusto Fernandez finished 17th and 18th, respectively, ahead of Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir in 19th.
VR46 wildcard Michele Pirro ended his session in 20th ahead of the Trackhouse Racing duo of Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, as Honda test rider Stefan Bradl’s return to racing this weekend saw him finish last overall.
