Free Practice 1 at Jerez kicked off the European leg of the MotoGP season with a session that had a bit of everything: a crash, a comeback, mechanical issues, and — ultimately — a surprise leader.
Alex Marquez went down at Turn 1 just 27 minutes into the session, front-end tucking early in the corner.
But far from letting it end his morning, the Gresini rider hopped on a scooter, got back to the pits, and returned to the track with a vengeance.
His reward? A 1m36.831 — the only sub-1m37 of the session — and the top spot on the timesheets.
Behind him came big brother Marc. The factory Ducati rider had a frustrating start with two aborted early runs, overshooting his pit box at one point and pointing to the dash after another attempt.
But once things clicked, the #93 showed why he’s always a threat — slotting into second, just 0.357s off Alex’s benchmark.
Hey @marcmarquez93, you're supposed to park it here 😅#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/w5Ks3AVoGf
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 25, 2025
That made it a Marquez 1-2 to kick off the weekend, the kind of headline that will raise eyebrows in both the Ducati and Gresini camps.
Fabio Quartararo gave Yamaha something to smile about with third place, just ahead of Maverick Viñales, who picked up where he left off in Qatar.
Viñales’ KTM Tech3 teammate Enea Bastianini, however, had a low-key morning in 20th.
Joan Mir continued Honda’s promising FP1 showing with a strong fifth, joined in the top 10 by Jack Miller, Johann Zarco and Alex Rins — making it five Japanese bikes in the top nine.
Wildcard entry Aleix Espargaro impressed in 11th on his HRC test outing, while reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia ended up seventh.
Bagnaia’s lap record from last year remains unthreatened for now, with Marquez’s best still 1.2 seconds off that mark.
Jorge Martin, still recovering from his massive Qatar crash, is replaced this weekend by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who ended the session in 23rd.
Miguel Oliveira is also absent, with Yamaha tester Augusto Fernandez stepping in for Trackhouse.
All eyes now turn to the afternoon Practice session at 15:00 local time, where riders will begin pushing for Q2 spots — and the Marquez brothers will look to keep their stranglehold on the top of the timesheets.
