Johann Zarco was the fastest rider in the last MotoGP warm-up of the season at the Valencia GP. It was on his final lap that the Frenchman reached the top of the timing charts in a session where the final adjustments to the bikes for the race take priority.
After the initial laps, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) held the lead, with Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) in second and Raúl Fernández (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia) posting the third-best time.
Five minutes before the end, the rankings shifted, with Marc Márquez taking the lead. Martín improved but remained second, 0.149s behind. Augusto Fernández (GasGas Tech3/KTM) also showed good speed, climbing to third place. Three minutes before the end, Maverick Viñales encountered problems, with a lot of smoke coming from his Aprilia indicating technical issues… later confirmed by the black and orange flags shown by the corresponding marshals.
Shortly after, Raúl Fernández took the lead, but in the last minute, he was surpassed by Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM). The South African was only beaten by Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati) in the final minute, who thus set the pace. Martín finished in third place, also improving in the final moments.
The top five was completed by Raúl Fernández and Marc Márquez. Further down, championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished 12th, 0.587s off the top. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) didn’t participate in the warm-up after suffering from a high fever overnight, choosing to rest for the race.
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