The Japanese driver and retired this Sunday Takaaki Nakagami achieved an unexpected performance by setting the best time on his Honda LCR in the first free practice session of the Barcelona Grand Prix, the last round of the 2024 MotoGP championship.
Takaaki Nakagami set the fastest time during the first free practice session of the Motul Solidarity Barcelona Grand Prix, the final round of the 2024 MotoGP season. The Japanese rider, for his last race before taking up his new role as tester for HRC, took advantage of the new soft tire at the front to achieve a time of 1'40.501, placing the Honda RC213V of the LCR team in the lead.
Behind Nakagami, Pedro Acostawith the
KTM from Team GASGAS Tech3, finished 0.411s behind the leader, followed by Alex Marquez of Ducati Gresini Racing, and his future teammate Brad Binder just behind, 0.451s from the lead. Jorge Martinleader of the world championship, took fifth place, preceding the Ducati ofEnea Bastianini et
Pecco Bagnaia. The reigning champion,
Bagnaiawill have to make up a gap of 24 points on
Martin to retain his world title.
The Top Ten is completed by Maverick Viñales
(Aprilia), Jack Miller (KTM), and Marc
Marquez (Ducati Gresini Racing). Yamaha
is represented by Fabio Quartararo in 11th position, preceding Luca Marini with the Honda Repsol, Franco Morbidelli with the Ducati Pramac, and Aleix Espargarówho is participating in his last race before becoming an HRC tester.
Note that the financial year was marked by falls in
Michele Pirroof Pedro Acosta,
d’Augusto Fernandezthe two Tech3 teammates clashing from the start of the session, and also Pecco Bagnaia at the end of the session after a misunderstanding with Maverick Viñales. The pilot of the Ducati #1 was visibly upset by the incident.
What will this Practice have in store for us, the outcome of which will establish the list of the lucky ones directly selected for Q2 this Saturday? Before you know it, here is the table that summarizes the facts known so far.
| MotoGP™ Barcelona, Spain | 5-2024 | 11-2024 |
| FP1 | 1’39.579 Jorge Martin (See here) | 1'40.501 Takaaki Nakagami |
| Practice | 1’38.562 Aleix Espargaro (See here) | |
| FP2 | 1’39.294 Aleix Espargaro (See here) | |
| Q1 | 1'38.208 Fabio Di Giannantonio (See here) | |
| Q2 | 1’38.190 Aleix Espargaro (See here) | |
| Sprint | Espargaro, Marc Marquez, Acosta (See here) | |
| Warm Up | 1'39.505 Enea Bastianini (See here) | |
| Grand Prix | Bagnaia, Martin, Marc Marquez (See here) | |
| Record | 1’38.190 Aleix Espargaro (See here) |
Hostilities will begin, an important session with a view to qualifying…which will determine who will enter Q2 directly or who will have to take a short tour through Q1 to reach the last square…qualifying..There are 10 “places” to be provide!! So let's go Guys!!!
MotoGP, Barcelona Practice: ranking
