It was only on Thursday that we thought Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) wasn’t going to be taking part in the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina, but after recovering from Covid-19, the Japanese rider ended a thrilling MotoGP™ FP1 at the summit of the timesheets. Nakagami’s 1:39.028 was good enough to beat reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) by 0.127s, with Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) making it two Hondas in the top three.
What a start that was! ????@takanakagami30 goes from being out of the weekend to ending FP1 fastest! ????#ArgentinaGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/vt6duaOVh4
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 2, 2022
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and rookie Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) sit inside the top five after the opening 60 minutes of running in Termas de Rio Hondo, as we see 0.399s split the top 10 – and 0.9s cover the top 19.
Tune into MotoGP™ FP2 at 15:40 local time (GMT-3) for another hour of premier class action, before the riders then go straight into qualifying at 17:05.
Top 10:
1. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) – 1:39.028
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.127
3. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.195
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.196
5. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.202
6. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.246
7. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.290
8. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.368
9. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.397
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.399