2024 Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP - Saturday Practice Results

* Rookie

Official Barcelona MotoGP Records:

Best lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.190s (2024)

Fastest race lap: Pedro Acosta 1m 39.664s (2024)

Maverick Vinales puts Aprilia fastest during Saturday practice for the 2024 Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP season finale at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Riders continued experimenting with the expanded tyre range with soft, medium and hard rears on track despite the cool (12-degree) morning conditions (with soft and medium fronts).

Title rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin were only eleventh and twelfth but within half-a-second of the top.

Friday leader Francesco Bagnaia stuck with used medium front and soft rear rubber.

Martin, who has his first chance to win the MotoGP title this afternoon, fitted a new medium rear for the 30-minute session but finished with a very old (26 lap) medium front. 

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.

The last-minute change of venue and cooler temperatures compared mean Michelin is offering a season-high of seven different tyre options this weekend, four fronts and three rears.