Team Suzuki Ecstar's Joan Mir set his stall out nice and early at the Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix after his 1:38.194 handed him top spot in MotoGP™ FP1. The Spaniard's penultimate lap was good enough to hold off a last lap charge from teammate Alex Rins, who ended up just 0.025 behind in second, and LCR Castrol's Honda's Alex Marquez, who helped lift the mood in HRC with an impressive Friday morning showing.
QUARTARARO ON THE LIMIT
The story of the session, though, came courtesy of the defending World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha). The Frenchman was sitting pretty at the top of the timesheets before a wet patch caught him out at the final corner. It was a crash that left him wincing, as the rear wheel of his Yamaha M1 flicked him in the groin.
He wasn't done there, however. After getting back out on track for the final 10 minutes of FP1, the Portuguese Grand Prix winner went on to have two more huge moments. The first came under braking at Turn 9, his machine bucking from side-to-side before finally coming back in line, before he was then forced to straight line it through the gravel trap at Turn 5. Despite all of that, he closed out the opening session in fifth.
Another shaky moment from @FabioQ20! ????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/sv7UTJIPQC
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 29, 2022
SUZUKI AND HONDA IMPRESS
Both Suzuki and HRC impressed the most in FP1 with the blue brand taking first and second, whilst HRC, despite having a weekend to forget in Portimao, had three riders inside the top ten. Mir, Rins and Alex Marquez were the top three, with fellow Honda riders Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Idemitsu Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) ending up sixth and eighth respectively.
#MotoGP FP1 turns light blue! ????@suzukimotogp 1-2 from @JoanMirOfficial and @Rins42! ????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/iaZGX18RUd
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 29, 2022
Aprilia Racing's Aleix Espargaro was two tenths adrift of Mir in fourth, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's only 0.068 further back of the Argentinian Grand Prix winner in seventh. Completing a top ten that includes all six MotoGP™ factories was Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) in tenth.
MotoGP™ Top 10 in FP1:
1. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – 1:38.194
2. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.025
3. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.174
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.232
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.245
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.264
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.308
8. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.327
9. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.433
10. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.560