MotoGP’s return to Valencia is well underway as FP1 concluded with Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha Team) topping the opening session of action. A 1’30.382 was enough to see the Australian lead the charge in the morning whilst the order and hierarchy is completely shuffled behind, making for an intriguing and intense afternoon to come.
Miller set a strong last run at the end of the session, with his fastest lap of a 1’30.382 setting the benchmark. The Australian was in such fine form that his second-fastest time would have been good enough for P1 too. He was 0.323s clear of 2024 Moto2™ World Champion Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who had one of his best sessions of the season, whilst wildcard Aleix Espargaro (Honda HRC Test Team) was an impressive third. Two Aprilias were inside the top four as Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) returned strongly in P4, ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) who rounded out the top five.
Despite leading the majority of the first half of the session, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was sixth in the opening session of the weekend, one place ahead of Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), who will hope his Portimao technical gremlins have stayed away. Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) final weekend of the season started with P8 whilst Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) bagged P9. A stand-out performer was the V4-power Yamaha YZR-M1 of Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) who took tenth.
Elsewhere, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was a crasher with just five minutes to go at Turn 4. He was able to walk away but his session ended early in P11, whilst 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was 14th. Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) returned to action in 19th, one place behind Portuguese GP winner Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). The headlining names continued with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) stuck in P21 and returning 2024 World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) in P24.
MotoGP FP1 results from Valencia!