The story of the first free practice of the MotoGP Japanese GP can be told in few words. Only two riders completed more than a dozen laps due to the rain that appeared in Motegi, with Francesco Bagnaia being the fastest in a session that was little to no representative or useful.
After the first laps, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) was leading, with Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) in second, just 0.008s behind, followed by Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) 0.050s behind.
However, as is typical at the beginning of the session, lap times steadily decreased, and after ten minutes, it was Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) who led with a 0.335s gap over Bagnaia (Ducati).
The Italian gradually closed the gap, and with his seventh lap, he overtook Martín by 0.109s. Around the same time, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati) moved into third.
After the first quarter of an hour, rain returned to Motegi, and the riders headed into the pits. Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) was in fourth, with Miller in fifth.
The rain makes a second guest appearance today 👀🌧️#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/GjhlKImJF1
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 4, 2024
Only in the final ten minutes did the action resume on track. However, no one improved their times, which was expected given the track conditions.
Rain seems to have eased off! 🙌
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 4, 2024
Some riders decide to head back out for the final 12 minutes ✅#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/bErsiI45Or
In fact, the wet track flag was shown again, with rain showers returning, and the riders headed back into the pits. Thus, FP1 ended with no further action on track, proving to be of little use for the weekend’s preparations.
