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MotoGP German GP: Martin leads Marquez; Espargaro withdraws due to injury

MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin led FP1 for the German Grand Prix from Marc Marquez, who later crashed, while Aleix Espargaro withdrew from the weekend due to injury.

Aprilia’s Espargaro suffered two heavy falls last weekend at the Dutch GP, with the second on the last lap of the sprint leaving him with a fracture in his right hand.

Attempting to ride in first practice at the Sachsenring, Espargaro only completed three laps before determining the pain in his hand was too great for him to continue with the rest of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Pramac Ducati rider Martin led the way with a 1m20.584s having been the only one to fit fresh soft rubber for a time attack at the end of the session.

Martin set the early pace in FP1 with a 1m22.442s, improving to a 1m21.307s with just over five minutes of the session gone.

With eight minutes remaining, Martin lit up the timing screens on a fresh soft rear tyre and produced a 1m20.584s to take over top spot.

He would not be bettered as the session came to a close.

Gresini Ducati rider Marquez was second, 0.150s off Martin’s pace, but remained on the same medium rear tyre he started the session on.

Last year’s German GP marked the beginning of the end of Marquez’s time with Honda, after he suffered five crashes at a venue he has dominated at for much of his grand prix career.

While Marquez was on much better form in FP1 in 2024 at the Sachsenring, he crashed at Turn 1 late on.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales completed the top three, a further 0.144s adrift, while Miguel Oliveira leapt up to fourth on the Trackhouse Racing Aprilia.

Pedro Acosta was the top KTM runner in fifth but crashed late on at the last corner, while Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez was sixth with an identical 1m21.151s.

Enea Bastianini was seventh on the factory Ducati, while Alex Marquez (Gresini), reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) rounded out the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo was the leading Yamaha runner in 14th, with Takaaki Nakagami the top Honda rider in 17th.

Alex Rins’ injury stand-in Remy Gardner, who hasn’t started a grand prix since Valencia 2022, was 22nd at the end of his first session on the factory Yamaha.

The Australian posted a 1m22.969s having completed 27 laps on the M1, with his best effort being 2.385s off the pace.

MotoGP German GP - FP1 results:

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 20

1'20.584

  162.836  
2 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 17

+0.150

1'20.734

0.150 162.533  
3 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 21

+0.294

1'20.878

0.144 162.244  
4 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 22

+0.522

1'21.106

0.228 161.788  
5 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 20

+0.567

1'21.151

0.045 161.698  
6 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 22

+0.567

1'21.151

0.000 161.698  
7 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 21

+0.627

1'21.211

0.060 161.579  
8 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 24

+0.674

1'21.258

0.047 161.485  
9 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 20

+0.713

1'21.297

0.039 161.408  
10 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 22

+0.826

1'21.410

0.113 161.184  
11 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 23

+1.005

1'21.589

0.179 160.830  
12 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 21

+1.058

1'21.642

0.053 160.726  
13 Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 25

+1.061

1'21.645

0.003 160.720  
14 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 17

+1.149

1'21.733

0.088 160.547  
15 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 24

+1.153

1'21.737

0.004 160.539  
16 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 19

+1.156

1'21.740

0.003 160.533  
17 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 23

 

     
18 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 24

+1.606

1'22.190

0.450 159.654  
19 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 23

+1.660

1'22.244

0.054 159.549  
20 Germany S. Bradl HRC Test Team 6 Honda 23

+1.733

1'22.317

0.073 159.408  
21 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 22

+1.943

1'22.527

0.210 159.002  
22 Australia R. Gardner Yamaha Factory Racing 87 Yamaha 26

+2.385

1'22.969

0.442 158.155  
23 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 3

+12.318

1'32.902

9.933 141.245  
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