Aragon, FP1: Marquez ahead of two Aprilias – championship leader Martin only 18th!

At 10.45 am sharp, the 22 MotoGP riders got underway for the first practice session of the race weekend at Aragon. Compared with the previous event at Silverstone, there were a few changes to the line-up: Johann Zarco returned to his MotoGP Honda after a three-and-a-half-month enforced break. Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer also made his comeback. Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura, however, is not taking part. The Japanese rider had to undergo surgery following a crash during a motocross training session on Thursday and will be replaced at Aragon by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Yellow flags were waved right at the start of the first stint on the anti-clockwise circuit: Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed in Turn 3 after just over six minutes. The Italian’s Ducati skidded for some time across the tarmac run-off area before finally rolling over in the gravel trap. ‘Diggia’ escaped uninjured and was able to resume the session after a short break.

Marc Marquez ahead of Pedro Acosta at the start

Marc Marquez went into the practice session as the clear favourite. After twelve minutes, the Spaniard clocked the first lap in the 1:47s, putting him narrowly ahead of his brother Alex at the top of the timesheets. KTM rider Pedro Acosta followed as the closest challenger, ahead of the Aprilia riders who had been tipped as favourites in the run-up to the session.

Returnee Zarco made an impressive start. After a quarter of an hour, the Frenchman was the fastest Honda rider in seventh place. What was striking, however, were the unusually large gaps for a MotoGP session: at the halfway point of the practice session, the top 10 were within 1.6 seconds of one another.

With ten minutes remaining in FP1, the Marquez brothers were the only riders to post lap times under 1:48 minutes. Marc Marquez led with a time of 1:47.532 minutes, with his brother Alex 0.264 seconds behind in second place. Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi had moved up to third place, but was already 0.657 seconds off the pace. Surprisingly, rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu was the best Yamaha rider in ninth place.

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MotoGP World Championship

29.08.2026 - 08:35

Acosta crashes, Aprilia riders come close to Marquez’s time

With five minutes remaining in FP1, Pedro Acosta caused yellow flags in Turn 12. The No. 37 KTM slid on its front wheel towards the run-off area. Acosta tried for a long time to brace himself with his knee, but was unable to prevent a crash. The Spaniard escaped uninjured and sprinted to the escape route after the crash to return to the KTM pit as quickly as possible.

In the closing stages of FP1, several riders went in search of fast lap times on fresh tyres. The three Yamaha riders – Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins – moved into the top 10, but were around a second off the pace.

Marc Marquez’s lap of 1:47.532 stood until the very last minute. Then two Aprilias went in search of fast lap times and came close to the fastest time. Marco Bezzecchi moved up to second place in the final minute. His Aprilia team-mate Raul Fernandez was leading after three sectors, but lost a few hundredths of a second in the final sector and finished in second place, 0.035 seconds behind.

FP1 thus ended with a Ducati setting the fastest time, but Aprilia were within striking distance. Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez were all within 0.264 seconds of each other. Pedro Acosta, in fifth place, was already 0.713 seconds behind. Jack Miller (Pramac-Yamaha), Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati), Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati), Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) rounded out the top 10.

Impressive comeback from Zarco

Impressive: Johann Zarco finished eleventh on his comeback, making him the best-placed Honda rider. The Frenchman was 1.117 seconds off the pace. Pol Espargaro, who is once again standing in for Tech3’s regular rider Maverick Viñales at Aragon, finished FP1 in 15th place, making him the second-fastest KTM rider ahead of Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini. Toprak Razgatlioglu slipped down to 16th place in the closing stages.

It was a disappointing start for Championship leader Jorge Martin. The Spaniard failed to find his rhythm in FP1 and was 1.591 seconds off the pace. This meant Martin was by far the last of the three Aprilia regular riders, finishing in 18th position. Aprilia tested a new wing on the RS-GP’s seat hump during FP1. It is astonishing how intensively Aprilia continues to work on the 2026 version, whilst other manufacturers are already fully focused on the 2027 bike.

The performance of former world champion Francesco Bagnaia was also disappointing. The Ducati works rider was 1.875 seconds slower than his team-mate Marquez: 20th place for the two-time MotoGP champion.

MotoGP qualifying at Aragon gets underway at 3.00 pm.