Repsol Honda’s Alex Marquez topped the opening MotoGP free practice at Aragon despite a late crash through the fast last corner.
Marquez had put in a 1’48.184 on his previous lap to move Taka Nakagami down to second place with Suzuki’s Joan Mir in third on a 1’48.993.
With the session kicking off later than it did seven days ago, track temperatures were 10 degrees higher and the times were much faster – only three riders went slower than Maverick Viñales’ (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) pace in FP1 at the Aragon GP. Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) made it three Hondas in the top four as the two factory orange HRC riders were the only ones to put a fresh rear soft Michelin tyre in.
On his second flying lap on the fresh rear tyre, Marquez crashed unhurt coming around the final sweeping left hander while on for beating his lap time. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) picked up P5, just under a second away from Marquez’ time attack lap.
Title contenders Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) finished P16 and P17 in FP1, worrying signs for the duo? Elsewhere, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) suffered a mechanical issue with three minutes to go.
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