Pramac Racing's Johann Zarco started Sunday at the Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix in perfect fashion by ending morning Warm Up fastest. However, the biggest talking point was yet another pair of crashes for Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro - the eight-time World Champion suffering a fast front-end fold at Turn 4 and the former KTM man going down hard at Turn 10.
The Frenchman's 1:37.688 was only half a tenth clear of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Maverick Viñales, with pole man Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) a further tenth back in third. Completing the top five were Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Brad Binder and Team Suzuki Ecstar's Joan Mir.
With temperatures slightly cooler than we've seen all weekend, the 20-minute session quickly became attritional. The first to go down was a seething Pol Espargaro at Turn 10, with fellow HRC stablemate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and sophomore Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) both going down at the final corner moments later.
Having already saved a front-end fall at the final corner, whilst being followed by younger brother Alex Marquez (LCR Castrol Honda), Marc Marquez's RC213V eventually did let go, this time at Turn 4. The scene of his epic save in the early stages of the 2020 Spanish GP, the eight-time World Champion wasn't able to save it on his elbow on this occasion as the front washed away without warning, sending him flying into the air fence at some speed once again. Fortunately, he was okay following the incident but visibly fizzing with rage.
Morning bro! ????????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/alCcnoaxgb
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 2, 2021
Three Yamahas were in the top six as the Iwata factory get ready to create some of their own piece of MotoGP™ history by winning the opening four races of a season for the first time. It's lights out in Jerez for the 2021 Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain at 14:00 local time (GMT+2) - you do not want to miss a second of it!
Top 10:
1. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) – 1:37.688
2. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.065
3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.111
4. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.284
5. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.322
6. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.326
7. Enea Bastianini (Avinitia Esponsorama) + 0.459
8. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.460
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.582
10. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.599
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RESULTS!