The rivals are already warned: Jorge Martín was the fastest in the first free practice of the Catalunya MotoGP in Barcelona, positioning himself again as a strong candidate to win this weekend. Miguel Oliveira finished in 12th.
This first session started with Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) leading ahead of Joan Mir (Repsol Honda). Then, Aprilia took control of the top positions, with Aleix Espargaró moving to the top ahead of Maverick Viñales and Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing/Aprilia).
It was a short-lived situation, before Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) became the new leader with the third laps set, with Martín in second and Viñales in third. Times continued to evolve. Marc Márquez and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) were the first to enter the 1m39s and after fifteen minutes they were in first and second.
The table then stabilized in the top positions for several minutes, while the riders worked on adapting and adjusting their bikes – which is the main priority in this session where times do not count.
In the last five minutes, Martín surpassed Espargaró to move into third, before taking the lead when he was 0.292s faster than Marc Márquez. Until the end, no one improved enough to beat the top three.
Thus, Martín was the leader of the session 0.292s ahead of Marc Márquez, with Binder in third. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3/KTM) improved on his last lap to finish fourth ahead of Espargaró. A little further down, the 2022 and 2023 champion, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), was seventh 0.724s off the top. As for Oliveira, he did not maintain the momentum that had placed him in third, finishing in 12th over 0.800s behind Martín.
