Raul Fernandez started his Sachsenring weekend off strongly by topping the first MotoGP practice session of the German Grand Prix.
Fernandez left it late to knock 12-time winner around Sachsenring Marc Marquez off top spot, but emphasised Aprilia’s pace with his time of 1:20.829s.
Marquez suffered an early crash at Turn 3, but recovered well to post a time 0.051s shy of Fernandez’s best lap of the session.
The Ducati rider finished narrowly ahead of third-placed Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Joan Mir and Jack Miller surprisingly rounded out the top five.
Alex Marquez was sixth, just 0.173s behind the fastest time, with Alex Rins taking the flag in seventh.
Franco Morbidelli crashed at the end of the session but split the factory Aprilia riders in ninth, as Marco Bezzecchi finished eighth and Jorge Martin rounded out the top 10.
Maverick Vinales also suffered a big crash at Turn 11 but finished as top KTM in 11th, while Pedro Acosta led team-mate Brad Binder in 12th and 13th.
Enea Bastianini was the final KTM runner in 14th ahead of Fabio Quartararo in 15th and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 16th.
Ai Ogura struggled in the opening practice session and finished 17th, posting the exact same time as 18th-placed Diogo Moreira.
Francesco Bagnaia also struggled in 19th, while compatriot Luca Marini saw his session end in 20th.
Cal Crutchlow rounded out the standings in 21st for LCR Honda in 21st.
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