2024 Barcelona MotoGP: Nakagami leads FP1, Bagnaia suffers late crash
LCR rider begins his final MotoGP weekend fastest in cold FP1
LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakgamai topped FP1 at the 2024 MotoGP Solidarity Grand Prix while Francesco Bagnaia crashed during the practice start session.
MotoGP’s second visit to Barcelona in 2024 comes in the wake of the devastating flooding in Valencia that led to the grand prix at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit to be cancelled.
The Solidarity GP is named as such to honour the people of Valencia.
The championship battle between Jorge Martin and Bagnaia comes down to the wire this weekend, with the former leading the way by 24 points.
After the opening 45-minute practice, Martin held the advantage over his rival in fifth, while Bagnaia was seventh.
Top honours went to Nakagami and Honda, with the Japanese rider set to retire from full-time racing at the end of this weekend to take up a new role as an HRC development rider.
Fitting a fresh medium rear tyre for his final run, Nakagami shot to the top of the order on his LCR-run RC213V with a 1m40.501s in the final moments to lead the way by 0.411s.
He headed Tech3 GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta, who was involved in a scary collision with team-mate Augusto Fernandez five minutes into the session.
The pair exited Turn 5 side-by-side and made contact on the exit, with both riders going down and the red flag brought out to clear up the debris.
Both riders were unhurt in the collision and were able to get back on track for the restart.
When action resumed, Martin set the early pace with a 1m41.820s, with Bagnaia edging ahead moments later with a 1m41.798s.
Top spot would change hands to Pramac’s Martin again, with Gresini’s Alex Marquez and Acosta taking turns leading the way.
Acosta took over top spot with a 1m40.912s with just under half an hour remaining, and would stay at the head of the pack until Nakagami - who crashed at Turn 2 during the session - fired in a 1m40.501s with just over two minutes to go.
Alex Marquez completed the top three behind Nakagami and Acosta, while KTM’s Brad Binder was fourth and Martin was fifth.
He headed the factory team Ducati duo of Enea Bastianini and Bagnaia, who was involved in an odd incident at the end of the session during the practice start phase.
On the approach to Turn 1, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales swooped ahead of Bagnaia into the braking zone.
There was no contact, but Bagnaia crashed under braking and was livid with Vinales, who was eighth at the chequered flag.
KTM’s Jack Miller and Marc Marquez (Gresini) completed the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo was the leading Yamaha in 11th, while Augusto Fernandez was 18th after his early tangle with Acosta.
Michele Pirro was 20th as he stands in for Fabio Di Giannantonio at VR46, while Miguel Oliveira headed Trackhouse team-mate Raul Fernandez in 21st on his return from injury.
