Espargaro fastest despite FP1 crash as Marquez finishes 11th on MotoGP return
Making his much-anticipated return to MotoGP after nearly four months away, Marquez completed the first couple of laps on his own before beginning to find pace behind Enea Bastianini.
As Espargaro went quickest following the opening flurry of laps, Marquez, who has won five times in the premier class as Aragon, jumped up to sixth place.
Not to be outshone by Marquez on his own return after missing the Misano Grand Prix due to a right ankle injury, Joan Mir also showed early pace to slot into the top ten.
However, the soon-to-be Repsol Honda rider suffered a big moment on the exit of turn six as he lit up the rear of his Suzuki GSX-RR.
In the form of his life, Francesco Bagnaia then took over top spot as he aims to win five consecutive MotoGP races this weekend.
Should Bagnaia achieve that feat then it would also be his second win in a row at the Teruel circuit, after the Italian won an epic duel against Marquez in 2021.
As Marquez returned to pit lane following an opening stint of seven laps, the eight-time world champion was occupying eighth position.
Miguel Oliveira made a strong start to FP1 for KTM as he slotted in seventh place following the opening run, although team-mate Brad Binder was not enjoying the same turn of pace down in 21st.
Following his early moment at turn six, Mir then ran off-track at the final corner after getting his braking wrong for the sweeping right-hand corner.
Espargaro was not so lucky as the Aprilia rider suffered a fast crash at the same corner just seconds later.
It was then the turn of reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo to have a moment on the brakes, as the Yamaha rider approached turn eight with too much speed.
Yamaha enjoyed a strong start to the Aragon MotoGP as Franco Morbidelli was just one place behind Quartararo with under ten minutes to go, while a returning Cal Crutchlow was P15.
One of the only riders to fit a soft rear tyre, Binder jumped up 16 places as he put his RC16 machine in fourth place.
Or that's what the South African thought he achieved, only to see his lap time deleted due to track limits. It meant Takaaki Nakagami moved up to fourth while Johann Zarco rounded out the top five.
