Practice report

Spanish MotoGP: Binder leads Espargaro, Marquez in FP1

KTM’s Brad Binder topped a tight opening practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez by 0.191 seconds from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

MotoGP returns to Jerez in wildly different conditions to what it found during last year’s double-header run in scorching weather in July.

In the cooler conditions, the top spot changed hands at a frenetic pace as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro set the early pace with a 1m40.834s.

This was quickly usurped by championship leader Fabio Quartararo, with the Yamaha rider edging ahead with a 1m40.661s before teammate Maverick Vinales dipped into the 1m39s with a 1m39.792s.

Espargaro, Quartararo and Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli continued to trade top spot as the opening 15 minutes of FP1 wore on.

It was the former on the Aprilia who set the benchmark with a 1m38.260s, before eventually bettering that with a 1m38.204s with just over seven minutes remaining.

This came under fire right at the end of the session, when KTM’s Binder started lighting up the timing screens.

Having made a tough start to 2021, largely as a result of Michelin’s front tyre allocation at the opening rounds, one-time race winner Binder shot to the top of the order with a 1m38.013s to end FP1 on top.

Aleix Espargaro held onto second with his 1m38.204s, while Honda’s Marc Marquez completed the top three as he returns to the scene of his season-ending accident last year.

Marquez headed Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and Quartararo, with Pramac’s Johann Zarco rounding out the top six on his Ducati.

Miguel Oliveira completed a strong morning for KTM in seventh ahead of the second works team Honda of Pol Espargaro, while Vinales and reigning world champion Joan Mir on the Suzuki completed the top 10.

Morbidelli slipped to 12^th at the chequered flag ahead of Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori and Suzuki’s Alex Rins, with HRC wildcard Stefan Bradl in 15^th.

Jack Miller made a low-key start to proceedings on his factory Ducati in 17^th, though was only 0.858s off the pace.

Rossi was 20^th after a quick start to FP1, while Jorge Martin’s injury stand-in Tito Rabat was 21^st in his first MotoGP appearance since losing his Avintia ride at the end of last year.

FP1 results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	33	Brad Binder	KTM	19	1'38.013
2	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	18	1'38.204	0.191
3	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	20	1'38.291	0.278
4	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	22	1'38.301	0.288
5	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	19	1'38.344	0.331
6	5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	19	1'38.397	0.384
7	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	18	1'38.398	0.385
8	44	Pol Espargaro	Honda	19	1'38.433	0.420
9	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	22	1'38.434	0.421
10	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	15	1'38.484	0.471
11	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	19	1'38.484	0.471
12	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	21	1'38.492	0.479
13	32	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	17	1'38.630	0.617
14	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	18	1'38.706	0.693
15	6	Stefan Bradl	Honda	19	1'38.764	0.751
16	73	Alex Marquez	Honda	20	1'38.819	0.806
17	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	19	1'38.871	0.858
18	9	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	19	1'39.054	1.041
19	23	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	20	1'39.110	1.097
20	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	20	1'39.299	1.286
21	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	21	1'39.502	1.489
22	10	Luca Marini	Ducati	19	1'39.531	1.518
23	27	Iker Lecuona	KTM	19	1'39.825	1.812
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