Emilia Romagna MotoGP: Marc Marquez heads Jorge Martin in FP1
San Marino GP winner kicks of Misano 2 weekend fastest in FP1
Gresini Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez topped the opening practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from Jorge Martin in a session run in changing conditions.
Due to the cancellation of the Kazakhstan GP, MotoGP is running a second round at Misano this weekend, marking the first edition of the Emilia Romagna GP since 2021.
Overnight rain left the Misano track damp for the start of FP1, which meant very few riders did any running early on in the 45-minute session as conditions slowly improved.
Marc Marquez, winner of the previous two grands prix, was one of the last riders out on track in FP1 but managed to end the session fastest of all with a 1m32.082s ahead of championship leader Martin.
Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli kicked off his home event in a strong third, while reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia was fourth on his factory Ducati ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales.
Only three riders took to the Misano track at the start of FP1, with Honda’s Luca Marini and Tech3’s Pedro Acosta venturing out on wet tyres, while Brad Binder on the factory KTM went straight to slicks.
As a result, Binder annexed the top of the timesheets for the first half of FP1 - the South African’s initial slick running culminating in a 1m33.843s.
The likes of Vinales, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Acosta served stints at the top of the timesheets as the track continued to improve.
With around five minutes to go, Martin shot to the top of the order with a 1m32.260s, before the Pramac rider bettered this with a 1m32.145s.
This looked set to cement top spot as the session entered its final seconds, though Marc Marquez would edge ahead on his penultimate flying lap with a 1m32.120s.
On his final lap, Marquez produced a 1m32.082s to lead Martin by just 0.063s - the Gresini rider’s time just a few tenths shy of the FP1 best from the San Marino GP run in fully dry conditions.
Martin led his Pramac team-mate Morbidelli by 0.123s at the chequered flag, with Bagnaia leaping up to fourth late on with a lap 0.118s quicker than Vinales’ best.
Alex Marquez was sixth on the sister Gresini Ducati, with Acosta heading the KTM charge in seventh from Binder, while Quartararo on the Yamaha and Miller on the second of the factory team-run KTMs rounding out the top 10.
Marini was the best of the Hondas in 17th, while Yamaha’s Alex Rins completed the least amount of laps of anyone with four.
