Gravel trap to P1: Alex Marquez storms to record-breaking top spot in Jerez

A fast Turn 5 crash was followed by an all-time lap record for the #73 as Bagnaia and Morbidelli cement top three spots.

A fast Turn 5 Practice crash for Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) didn’t stop the #73 from ending Friday as the rider to beat in MotoGP at the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Spain – and with an all-time lap record too. Marquez’s stunning 1:35.991 was enough to beat Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) by 0.103s, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) claimed P3 as World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) settled for P4 to set us up nicely for the rest of the weekend.

EARLY DRAMA FOR ALEX MARQUEZ
There was early drama for FP1 pacesetter Alex Marquez after the Gresini star suffered a fast crash at Turn 5 while shadowing Marc Marquez. The #73 was able to walk away from the incident but the red flags were shown because the air fence that his Ducati GP24 collected needed re-deploying.

BACK UNDERWAY
Once we were back underway, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) led the way with a 1:37.071, with Bagnaia moving into P2 just north of the 30 minutes to go mark. With 28 minutes left, Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) went P1 before Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Pedro Acosta and then Quartararo again climbed to the summit, as we witnessed the first 1:36 lap times of the afternoon.

So heading into the business end of the session, how were we looking? Quartararo led Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) by 0.090s, with Marc Marquez, Acosta and Binder your top five – the latter though hit the deck at Turn 9 with just over 20 minutes to go. Zarco was P6, Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) had climbed into P7 ahead of Bagnaia, with Alex Marquez still inside the top 10 in P9 and after a bit of time in his office, the Spaniard was ready to head back out on track.

CRUNCH TIME
The final 15 minutes had arrived and Quartararo was on a flyer – but the Frenchman’s front end washed away at the Jorge Lorenzo corner. That cost a few riders their times with the yellow flags out, but not Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). The Italians went P1, P2 and P3 to shuffle Quartararo down to P4, with Morbidelli the rider now leading the way.

Not for long though. Marc Marquez set a 1:36.258 to go P1 with 11 minutes left, and Alex Marquez then shot to P3 from P14 on his first flying lap since the earlier fall. The goalposts were then moved by Bagnaia as the Italian set a 1:36.094 to go P1, 0.164s clear of teammate Marquez. Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) crashes, then one for Ogura too, brought out yellow flags before Alex Marquez delved into the 1:35s. The #73 was the first rider ever to lap in that bracket as Quartararo, back on his YZR-M1 that he crashed, pounced back to P5 after sitting outside the top 10.

A moment for Marc Marquez at Turn 6 cost the six-time MotoGP World Champion a chance at beating his brother to Friday honours, and with that, the all-important top 10 was set after no one else was able to improve enough to gain automatic Q2 entry.

Behind the fastest quartet was Quartararo, the 2021 World Champion recovered well after his final corner crash. Rookie star Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) sails into Q2 on home turf in P6, Zarco joins the Spaniard in P7 as Acosta ends Day 1 in P8 after a late PB time. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) are the final two Q2 qualifiers on Friday, as Binder misses out by 0.055s in P11.

QUALIFYING UP NEXT
Tune into MotoGP qualifying at 10:50 local time (UTC+1) – don’t miss it!

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