Alex Marquez led the way in opening practice for the Alcaniz Grand Prix at Aragon despite a crash while on his final flying lap.
The Spaniard led the way early on as the MotoGP contingent began to lap underneath the 1:49 mark, popping in a 1:48.953 to head fellow Honda compatriot Takaaki Nakagami by just over a tenth-of-a-second.
Nakagami wanted to steal some of the limelight for himself though, posting a 1:48.622 around the half-way mark to lead Marquez by 0.331 at the head of the timesheets.
Track action calmed down somewhat during the final period of the session, though Marquez and Joan Mir elected to head back out to try and take a swing at Nakagami’s leading benchmark.
Mir came close but was ultimately unable to get within three-tenths of the Japanese ace, though Marquez seemed to find an extra gear with his final couple of runs.
He immediately banged in a monstrous 1:48.184 to go 0.438 faster than anyone else with the first of his efforts, and then looked to go even quicker on his last tour before crashing at the final turn.
Marquez looked to have carried just a smidge too much pace into the mid-point of the bend, causing the front of his RC213-V to fold out from under him, thus sending him harmlessly sliding into the gravel trap.
His earlier lap was enough to give him FP1 spoils though, with Nakagami remaining second ahead of points leader Mir.
Stefan Bradl completed a strong first practice of the weekend for Honda with an impressive fourth quickest time on the second factory-entered machine, the German just over eight-tenths down on his team-mate.
Franco Morbidelli completed the top five as fastest Yamaha, while factory M1 man Maverick Vinales took sixth.
Jack Miller was Ducati’s highest representative in seventh, the Pramac Racing pilot heading the Espargaro brothers by just over a tenth.
Aprilia’s Aleix marginally got the better of KTM’s Pol for eighth position, while Cal Crutchlow rounded out the top ten despite his LCR-run Honda conking out in the closing minutes and leaving him stranded.
Defending Aragon race winner Alex Rins started the weekend quietly down in 12th, while title challengers Andrea Dovizioso and Fabio Quartararo languished in 16th and 17th overall respectively.
| # | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’48.184 | |
| 2 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’48.622 | 0.438 / 0.438 |
| 3 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’48.993 | 0.809 / 0.371 |
| 4 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’49.003 | 0.819 / 0.010 |
| 5 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’49.100 | 0.916 / 0.097 |
| 6 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’49.176 | 0.992 / 0.076 |
| 7 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’49.211 | 1.027 / 0.035 |
| 8 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’49.305 | 1.121 / 0.094 |
| 9 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’49.346 | 1.162 / 0.041 |
| 10 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’49.356 | 1.172 / 0.010 |
| 11 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’49.360 | 1.176 / 0.004 |
| 12 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’49.372 | 1.188 / 0.012 |
| 13 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’49.442 | 1.258 / 0.070 |
| 14 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’49.482 | 1.298 / 0.040 |
| 15 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’49.501 | 1.317 / 0.019 |
| 16 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’49.512 | 1.328 / 0.011 |
| 17 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’49.621 | 1.437 / 0.109 |
| 18 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’49.727 | 1.543 / 0.106 |
| 19 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’49.962 | 1.778 / 0.235 |
| 20 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’50.215 | 2.031 / 0.253 |
| 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’50.251 | 2.067 / 0.036 |
