The Spaniard was quickest after a hectic Friday and finished ahead of Martin and Oliveira in Germany.
With one hour to decide who would earn their spot in Q2, it was a session which delivered drama by the bucket load at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Practice ended with Maverick Viñales at the top, with the #12 flying high for Aprilia Racing on Friday.
It was an unbelievable pace from Viñales, who set a new lap record after completing a magnificent 1:19.622 lap to place 0.340s ahead of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who found time late in the session to catapult from fourth to second. Meanwhile, Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing), took P3 and completed a fantastic day for the satellite squad.
It was a dramatic session with Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) crashing in the opening stages, losing the front at the fast Turn 11. Bezzecchi walked away from the crash but would not be the last victim of Turn 11 with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) suffering from a highside with 52 minutes left on the clock.
Turn 1 would also play havoc with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) crashing and damaging the air fence – bringing out the red flag. Once the session resumed Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) would be some of the further crashers at Turn 1. Soon the pace would heat up with time attacks starting in the last 20 minutes with lap records being destroyed.
Further back, fourth place was taken by Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), who showed strong pace throughout with over 30 laps set in the hour-long Practice. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed a quiet day for the #1, who has safely secured a spot in Q2 after a P5 finish.
The Italian was ahead of compatriot and teammate Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), who held onto sixth after a late crash at Turn 11. Bastianini fell in the final five minutes, with the Beast finishing the day ahead of Prima Pramac Racing’s Franco Morbidelli, who found time in the afternoon to finish P7.
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) was eighth after the rookie returned to the track after a fall at Turn 1. It was still a positive day for Acosta, who was ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who also returned to action after a check-up at the medical centre. Meanwhile, the final spot inside the top 10 went the way of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder.
This is already building to a dramatic and unpredictable Q1 session on Saturday, with Marc Marquez finishing outside the top 10 after finishing in 13th after setting one further flying lap after his crash. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) will join the #93 in Q1 after missing out on a spot inside the top 10 by a mere 0.001s.
The MotoGP™ field will return to track for an action-packed Saturday at 10:10 local time (UTC +2) for Free Practice 2 before qualifying begins at 10:50 local time and then the thrilling Tissot Sprint awaits at 15:00 local time. So, make sure you don’t miss anything on motogp.com!
Top 10:
| 1 | MAVERICK VIÑALES (APRILIA RACING) | 1:19.622 |
| 2 | Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) | +0.340 |
| 3 | Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) | +0.362 |
| 4 | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) | +0.407 |
| 5 | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) | +0.439 |
| 6 | Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) | +0.463 |
| 7 | Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) | +0.464 |
| 8 | Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) | +0.520 |
| 9 | Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) | +0.658 |
| 10 | Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) | +0.662 |
