MotoGP Barcelona 1st practice: Nakagami on top, Martin fifth, Bagnaia seventh

Takaaki Nakagami set the fastest time in the first practice session of the final weekend in Barcelona.

In the session held in a cold weather condition of 14 degrees, Takaaki Nakagami took the top spot, 0.4 seconds ahead of Pedro Acosta, with his lap on soft front and medium rear tires in the final moments.

At the beginning of the session, a red flag was waved due to a collision between Tech3 drivers Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez at the exit of Turn 5. Fortunately, both drivers escaped the accident without injury.

Title contender Jorge Martin heads into the weekend with a 24-point lead and if he wins the sprint race on Saturday or scores at least two more points than Bagnaia, he will make history by becoming the first rider in the MotoGP era to win the title from a satellite team.

Martin didn’t have a bad start to the weekend, finishing the first practice in fifth place.

Francesco Bagnaia suffered a brief shock when he crashed while overtaking at the first corner early in practice.