The sixth race of the 2024 season started with two riders fighting for a spot on the Ducati team in 2025 leading the way in the first practice session.
Marquez was the fastest at first on his Gresini Ducati, but Martin, with new soft tires, took over towards the end with a time of 1 minute and 39.579 seconds.
Brad Binder from KTM came third, followed by Pedro Acosta from Tech3 GasGas. Aleix Espargaro, last year’s winner in Catalonia, finished fifth on the Aprilia team, who announced his retirement on Thursday.
The practice session happened under cloudy skies but stayed dry. Marquez started strong with a time of 1 minute and 41.226 seconds, but Espargaro briefly took the lead with 1 minute and 40.504 seconds.
Marquez then set two very fast laps with a time of 1 minute and 39.871 seconds, which held the top spot for a while. He used the same set of tires for the whole session.
Towards the end, many riders changed to new tires for a final quick lap. Martin was the only one to choose a new soft rear tire and clocked a time of 1 minute and 39.579 seconds, securing the top position.
Marquez was close behind, just 0.292 seconds slower, while Binder finished third with a time of 1 minute and 39.958 seconds.
Acosta was only 0.008 seconds behind Binder, and Espargaro finished fifth. Alex Marquez from Gresini also didn’t use new tires but still finished sixth.
Francesco Bagnaia from the factory Ducati team finished seventh, followed by Augusto Fernandez from Tech3. Jack Miller from KTM and Raul Fernandez from Trackhouse Racing completed the top 10.
Johann Zarco from LCR Honda was the top Honda rider in 13th place, trying out new exhaust and aerodynamics. Fabio Quartararo led the Yamaha riders with the new aerodynamic package, finishing in 15th place.
