2024 Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP - Friday Practice Results

Takaaki Nakagami starts his final full-time MotoGP weekend on top of the timesheets after bizarre incidents bookend opening practice for the Solidarity Barcelona season finale.

Bagnaia down - after the chequered flag

World championship leader Jorge Martin got the early edge over title rival Francesco Bagnaia with fifth place, but Bagnaia then crashed into Turn 1 after the session had ended!

Bagnaia was cruising with his elbow on the tank after a botched practice start when he seemed to be surprised by an outside pass from Maverick Vinales in the braking zone and lost the front.

Vinales later shrugged a 'what did I do?' gesture when watching a replay in the pits.

Bagnaia had spun up, yet again, during his practice start, perhaps while trying a low front-holeshot setting. 

The good news for Bagnaia was that he trudged away unharmed.

Riding in cool but dry 14-degree air temperatures, Nakagami - after an earlier fall - fitted new soft front and medium rear tyres to shoot 0.4s ahead of Pedro Acosta in the final minutes.

Acosta, like most riders, stuck with the same set of soft and medium tyres but began the weekend on the ground.

Tech3 team-mates tangle

Red flags were waved after just six minutes when Acosta and Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez suffered a strange collision on the exit of Turn 5.

Fernandez attempted to go around the outside of Acosta, who was caught up behind Brad Binder.

But Acosta, leaning to the inside, was unaware of Fernandez’s move and the pair clashed on the exit, sending both riders down, damaging an air fence and forcing red flags.

Fortunately, both riders walked away, with Acosta still shocked as he spoke to his team in the pits.

Before the red flag, VR46 stand-in Michele Pirro had been caught out in the opening minutes, also at Turn 5.

How Martin can become MotoGP champion in Saturday’s Barcelona Sprint:

• Martin wins the Sprint.
• Martin finishes 2nd and Bagnaia doesn’t win.
• Martin finishes 3rd and Bagnaia doesn’t finish better than 5th.
• Martin finishes 4th and Bagnaia doesn’t finish better than 6th.
• Martin finishes 5th and Bagnaia doesn’t finish better than 7th.
• Martin finishes 6th and Bagnaia doesn’t finish better than 8th.
• Martin finishes 7th and Bagnaia doesn’t finish better than 9th.
• Martin finishes 8th and Bagnaia is 10th or lower.

Martin holds a 24-point lead over Bagnaia heading into this weekend’s title showdown.

That means Martin can be crowned premier-class champion for the first time and make history as the first satellite rider to win the title in the ‘MotoGP’ era, if he wins the Saturday Sprint or scores at least two points more than Bagnaia.

While the odds are stacked in Martin’s favour, cool temperatures and the threat of rain mean there might yet be one more twist in what defending double champion Bagnaia has called a “championship of mistakes”.

Barcelona is a last-minute replacement for the traditional Valencia finale, cancelled following devastating flooding.

MotoGP’s visit to the track in May saw home star Aleix Espargaro announce his retirement plans on the Thursday then lead Friday practice, qualify on pole and win the Sprint - after a last lap mistake by Bagnaia.

Bagnaia retaliated with victory in the grand prix, where Martin finished runner-up from seventh on the grid after a crash in qualifying. Marc Marquez didn’t even reach Qualifying 2 but rode from 14th to the podium in both races.

Gresini’s Marquez holds a 1-point lead over Enea Bastianini, the rider he replaces at the factory Ducati team next year, in the battle for third in the world championship.

Fifth overall and top non-Ducati rider will also be settled this weekend, with rookie Pedro Acosta carrying a 3-point lead over future factory KTM team-mate Brad Binder.

Miguel Oliveira returns to action for his final Trackhouse appearance after missing five rounds due to left wrist fractures in Mandalika.

Ducati test rider Michele Pirro has been called up to ride in place of VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, who recently underwent shoulder surgery.