P1racenews AI automatic summary:
MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin narrowly led Aragon dominator Marc Marquez in opening practice for the first of the two back-to-back Misano race weekends
In the opening practice for the first of the two back-to-back Misano race weekends, MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin narrowly led Aragon dominator Marc Marquez. Martin’s 2024-spec Pramac Ducati was just 0.037 seconds faster than Marquez’s year-old Gresini version. A pleasant surprise came in the form of KTM wildcard Pol Espargaro, who was two tenths of a second off the top spot, ahead of lead full-time KTM rider Brad Binder. Champion Pecco Bagnaia expressed concerns about lingering pain from last weekend’s crash affecting his performance at one of his strongest tracks, and ended up in eighth place in the first session. However, Bagnaia seemed comfortable on the bike, showing his usual calm approach to weekends. Honda’s Joan Mir had to skip Friday running due to “continued intense gastroenteritis,” and his participation from Saturday onward will depend on his health assessment at the end of the day.
