In the opening practice session at Jerez, Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez took the lead, surpassing his brother Marc who had been leading for most of the session. Throughout the majority of the 45-minute session, it was a Marquez 1-2. However, Alex Marquez made a strategic decision to switch to fresh tires towards the end of the session, allowing him to overtake his brother and finish with the fastest time of 1m36.630s. He was half a second ahead of Marc Marquez and his teammate. Maverick Vinales, who had dominated at the Circuit of the Americas, secured the third position after equipping a fresh set of tires. Aleix Espargaro improved his position in the final lap, finishing in fourth place. Franco Morbidelli, on a 2024-spec Ducati, came in fifth, while other riders on the same bike, Jorge Martin, Pecco Bagnaia, and Enea Bastianini, finished in ninth, 12th, and 13th place respectively. KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa was the fastest RC16 rider in sixth place, closely followed by Brad Binder. The other wildcards, Lorenzo Savadori and Stefan Bradl, finished in 23rd and 24th place, pushing Luca Marini to the last position. Savadori is riding an experimental bike with new features that Aprilia plans to use later in the season. Bradl’s RC213V, on the other hand, has undergone significant changes in terms of aerodynamics and seat unit compared to the regular bikes. Two riders, Johann Zarco and Augusto Fernandez, experienced crashes during the session, but Zarco quickly recovered and returned to his feet.
Francesco Bagnaia has expressed his disagreement with critics who have suggested that the current world champion would oppose Marc Marquez joining the Factory Ducati team. Some reporters have...
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