16:10 - Here ends our LIVE coverage of the MotoGP pre-qualifying in Barcelona, thanks for following it with us. Stay tuned to GPOne for all the protagonists' statements directly from the Paddock. Stay Tuned!
16:08 - The afternoon in Barcelona confirmed the excellent form of the KTM on the Catalan track, with Brad Binder able to place the RC16 in front of everyone and Pedro Acosta second and just over a tenth from the South African. Completing the virtual front row was a solid Alex Marquez, while he had to settle for 4th place Marc Marquez, flanked by Bezzecchi and Bastianini, who grabbed Q2 despite a crash in the final.
Good session also for Franco Morbidelli, 7th ahead of the Hondas of Zarco (crashed in the final) and Marini, who takes aktra Q2. Tenth Ai Ogura, last of the qualifiers for Q2, while the first of the eslcusi is Fabio Quartararo, screwed by the Japanese by just 3 thousandths.
Very tough Friday for Bagnaia, who finishes only 21st. Fabio Di Giannantonio also suffered greatly, finishing only 17th on a not easy day for Ducati, which places 'only' three Desmosedicis in Q2.
16:00 - Pre-qualifying closes with Brad Binder's best time ahead of Pedro Acosta. The standings
16:00 - The yellow flag waves, Bastianini also on the ground!
15:59 - Yellow flag in the first sector, down goes Zarco!
15:57 - Binder sets the fastest time ahead of Acosta! Bastianini sixth. Only Vinales is missing from the roll call! It's not over, so many red helmets!!!
15:55 - Bezzecchi closes his lap with the third fastest time! Acosta and Binder red helmets in the first two sectors, KTM in good shape. Also Bastianini, three red helmets!
15:53 - About 5 minutes to go to the checkered flag, Bastianini has to find the square right away because he is 14th despite having shown that he can be without problems at the top. Red helmet for Bezzecchi in the first sector.
15:52 - Excellent Quartararo, who climbs to 4th position! When there is a chance, Fabio is always there! Di Giannantonio meanwhile climbs to 10th, leaving only Bagnaia in the bottom of the standings.
15:51 - Quartararo is 9th and improving further. Also struggling is Di Giannantonio, who is now 22nd and looks even worse off than Bagnaia. Aldeguer 11th behind Marini.
15:50 - Let's take a look at the standings with Alex Marquez ahead of Marc.
15:49 - Marc improves, then Zarco and Acosta. Alex Marquez 4th on bezzecchi and Mir. Binder now slots into 4th, the standings are changing steadily. New benchmark for Alex Marquez now, doing better than his brother! Bagnaia meanwhile remains pinned in 22nd.
15:47 - Acosta is now in 3rd position. Red helmet for Pedro in the first sector in the second attempt. Alex Marquez 3rd now, Oliveira enters the top ten with the seventh time ahead of Rins. Red helmet for Binder in the first sector. Jorge Martìn 9th!
15:46 - Marc Marquez closes his lap in 1'38'444 and moves to the front! Zarco second, then Bastianini and Alex Marquez. Miller, however, crosses the line and is 4th. Acosta is now improving.
15:45 - Enea scores a red helmet in the second sector as well, then closes the lap in 1'38'972 and puts himself ahead of everyone. Marc Marquez immediately starts to respond, red helmet in the first sector.
15:44 - Bastianini is the first top rider to go on new soft tires, immediately red helmet!
15:42 - 18 minutes to go until the end of this pre-qualifying, we'll see some real time attacks on the track shortly. Getting into Q2 will be crucial as always, and it doesn't look like Ducati has it easy here. Both KTM and Honda are very fast, while for now perhaps Aprilia is a bit missing from the roll call.
15:40 - Bagnaia comes back into the pits. The body language speaks volumes.
15:39 - Vinales is now 12th. Chantra is currently 20th ahead of Bagnaia. Pecco is really struggling.
15:38 - Vinales immediately climbs the leaderboard and closes with 17th time on his first attempt, but he is improving. Bezzecchi, on the other hand, loses something after marking a red helmet in the first sector and remains 9th. Martìn is also lapping, who is currently only 23rd.
15:36 - Vinales is back on track just now, while Bezzecchi scores a red helmet in the first sector.
15:34 - Bagnaia continues to have only 4 laps to his credit, while riders like Quartararo and Bezzecchi have 14 or 13. Pecco is probably trying to find the right change, but for the moment the situation looks really heavy after Balaton's flash of optimism.
15:33 - A. look at the standings, with Alex Marquez still the leader
15:31 - Strange to see Vinales so far behind after having a brilliant first session this morning. Maybe Maverick is conserving energy so as not to strain his shoulder too much.
15:29 - Great time for Ai Ogura who places his Aprilia in 9th. More red helmet for Bastianini in the first sector. Bezzecchi in turn improves and it is he who occupies 9th position now.
15:28 - Both Acosta and Bastianini score a red helmet in the first sector, the KTMs are very fast in that part of the circuit. Bezzecchi improves again and is 13th. Bagnaia, on the other hand, does not improve and is now 18th.
15:26 - Red helmet for Bastianini in the first sector, but then Enea loses something in the second. Bezzecchi meanwhile climbs to 15th.
15:24 - Binder moves up to third, but for now we're still on not particularly interesting times. Bagnaia meanwhile is 15th and is now going for a new lap.
15:22 - Red helmet for Brad Binder, who is pushing and has no new tires. Certainly still missing partecchio to the first real time attacks.
15:21 - Martìn is trying to improve but he only gains one position. He is now 18th ahead of Ogura. Really strange to see the Aprilias far behind on a track that historically has always rewarded the RS-GP.
15:19 - Marini is continuing to lap on excellent times. Looks like Honda's new chassis is working very well in Barcelona as well.
15:17 - Strange to see the Aprilias also quite far apart at this stage of the session. Martìn is 19th ahead of Bezzecchi and Savadori. Fernandez is 16th and the best RS-GP in the standings at the moment.
15:16 - A look at the standings after the riders' first runs.
15:14 - In these first 15 minutes everyone is very close. Just think that Ogura who is 18th is only one second behind Alex Marquez.
15:12 - Red helmet for Bagnaia in the first sector, which is the very one of the braking in turn 1. After Pecco, he doesn't improve, but at least it's a signal. Miller seventh ahead of Di Giannantonio and Aldeguer, with Morbidelli rounding out the top ten.
15:10 - He remains quite far behind Bagnaia, who is currently 13th after a really complicated morning.
15:07 - Alex Marquez takes the lead, Acosta in second. Bastianini moves up to 5th, confirming the speed shown this morning.
15:04 - Marc Marquez immediately closes a very good pass and puts himself in front of everyone. Second Luca Marini, then Zarco and Alex Marquez. Honda on a great run.
15:01 - Welcome to our LIVE coverage of MotoGP pre-qualifying in Barcelona! Riders already on track. We recently learned of the takeover of Team Tech3, which has been taken over by Steiner!
The Montmeló weekend opened in the sign of KTM and Pedro Acosta, who was able to snatch the best chronometric performance in the first free practice session. The RC16 really looks like one of the best bikes on the track, as Vinales finished 4th, Binder 7th and Bastianini 10th. All in short in the top ten, while the situation seems slightly different for Ducati, which placed only Marc and Alex Marquez in the ten this morning. Even Zarco did better than Marc, setting the second fastest time with the Honda and in the top ten there are also the RC213vs of Marini and Aleix Espargarò.
Aprilia defended itself only with Bezzecchi, on a track that in the past has seen the RS-GP often dictate the pace. In trouble, on the other hand, was Yamaha, which couldn't find its footing and saw Miller 11th as the best rider riding the M1 on the track. But even worse was Pecco Bagnaia, only 23rd on his Ducati. It seems that Pecco this morning also had a small technical problem with his 'moto 1' having to switch to the other one. But starting the weekend this way is certainly not the best confirmation on the steps forward that Bagnaia said he had made after the Grand Prix in Balaton.
Our LIVE coverage of MotoGP pre-qualifying in Barcelona will start at 3 p.m., Stay Tuned!
This is the classification of this morning's FP1: