Raul Fernandez leads the pack, but Marc Marquez makes an immediate impression
The first free practice session of the 2026 German Grand Prix, the eleventh round of the MotoGP World Championship, ended with a surprise at the top of the timesheets. Raul Fernandez set the fastest time overall, delivering the most impressive performance of the morning at the Sachsenring on his Trackhouse Aprilia.
The Spanish rider made the most of his final run on fresh tires, setting the session’s fastest lap at 1’20″829 and finishing ahead of some of the pre-race favorites, who chose not to reveal their full potential.
Marc Marquez, however, lived up to expectations, once again proving very competitive in race pace. The Catalan rider finished in second place, just 51 thousandths behind the leader, despite a crash early in the session and a different strategy—he used the same tires for the entire session. This is an important sign for the Ducati rider, who remains among the top contenders for victory.
Excellent results also for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who finished third on the VR46 team’s Ducati. The Roman rider adopted a strategy similar to Marquez’s and finished just 107 thousandths behind the leader, confirming the strong form of the Ducati satellite team.
Behind them were two riders who benefited from a tire change late in the session: Joan Mir took his Honda to fourth place, 115 thousandths behind, while Jack Miller finished fifth on the Pramac Yamaha, 171 thousandths back. Alex Marquez also got off to a good start, finishing sixth on the Gresini Ducati less than two-tenths behind Fernandez, despite not fitting new tires on his final run.
The morning was more challenging for the factory Aprilia riders, however. Marco Bezzecchi finished in eighth place, 541 thousandths behind, while Jorge Martin was tenth, 663 thousandths off the fastest time, despite trying out fresh tires toward the end of the session.
The most concerning situation, however, involves Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati Factory rider was unable to find the right feel with the Desmosedici and finished FP1 in nineteenth place—second-to-last among the riders on track—nearly a second off the pace. It’s been a rough start for the two-time world champion, who now needs to bounce back in the upcoming sessions to regain his competitiveness.
Here are all the times:
1. Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) 1:20.829
2. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) +0.051
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) +0.107
4. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) +0.115
5. Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) +0.171
6. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) +0.173
7. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) +0.488
8. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) +0.541
9. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) +0.552
10. Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) +0.663
11. Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) +0.671
12. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +0.756
13. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +0.760
14. Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) +0.764
15. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) +0.856
16. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) +0.897
17. Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) +0.921
18. Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.921
19. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) +0.936
20. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) +0.960
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21. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +1.754
