Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez topped the timesheets in the first MotoGP practice session at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
The Spaniard produced a strong lap time of 1.36.831s to kick start his weekend in the best possible way.
This lap time showed his competitiveness despite a crash at Turn 1 midway through the session.
His older brother Marc Marquez finished as his nearest challenger, finishing 0.357s adrift despite a small unidentified issue earlier in the session.
Fabio Quartararo claimed third to provide further optimism to Yamaha, as Tech3 rider Maverick Vinales carried on from his strong showing in Qatar.
Joan Mir finished the session down in fifth place for Honda HRC in front of his home crowd.
Jack Miller continued to show Yamahas competitiveness in the early stages, finishing sixth place overall.
Francesco Bagnaia completed the session in seventh position on the factory Ducati, searching for four wins in a row at Jerez on Sunday.
Johann Zarco claimed eighth and was accompanied by Yamahas Alex Rins and work colleague Aleix Espargaro.
The VR46 Ducati duo of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio ended their respective sessions in 11th and 12th.
Marco Bezzecchi finished as the lead Aprilia rider in a distant 13th, ahead of KTMs Brad Binder and rookie sensation Ai Ogura.
Luca Marini struggled and finished 16th, bettering the lap time of Yamaha test rider and stand-in Augusto Fernandez.
Fermin Aldeguer struggled in the session, finishing a surprising 18th and over 1.3s off the pace of his teammate.
Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini claimed 19th and 20th place, respectively, pipping Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez at the end.
Once again, Somkiat Chantra and Lorenzo Savadori occupied the last two places, the latter of which is once again standing in Jorge Martin.
