MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin led FP1 for the German Grand Prix from Marc Marquez, who later crashed, while Aleix Espargaro withdrew from the weekend due to injury.
Aprilia’s Espargaro suffered two heavy falls last weekend at the Dutch GP, with the second on the last lap of the sprint leaving him with a fracture in his right hand.
Attempting to ride in first practice at the Sachsenring, Espargaro only completed three laps before determining the pain in his hand was too great for him to continue with the rest of the weekend.
Meanwhile, Pramac Ducati rider Martin led the way with a 1m20.584s having been the only one to fit fresh soft rubber for a time attack at the end of the session.
Martin set the early pace in FP1 with a 1m22.442s, improving to a 1m21.307s with just over five minutes of the session gone.
With eight minutes remaining, Martin lit up the timing screens on a fresh soft rear tyre and produced a 1m20.584s to take over top spot.
He would not be bettered as the session came to a close.
Gresini Ducati rider Marquez was second, 0.150s off Martin’s pace, but remained on the same medium rear tyre he started the session on.
Last year’s German GP marked the beginning of the end of Marquez’s time with Honda, after he suffered five crashes at a venue he has dominated at for much of his grand prix career.
While Marquez was on much better form in FP1 in 2024 at the Sachsenring, he crashed at Turn 1 late on.
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales completed the top three, a further 0.144s adrift, while Miguel Oliveira leapt up to fourth on the Trackhouse Racing Aprilia.
Pedro Acosta was the top KTM runner in fifth but crashed late on at the last corner, while Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez was sixth with an identical 1m21.151s.
Enea Bastianini was seventh on the factory Ducati, while Alex Marquez (Gresini), reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) rounded out the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo was the leading Yamaha runner in 14th, with Takaaki Nakagami the top Honda rider in 17th.
Alex Rins’ injury stand-in Remy Gardner, who hasn’t started a grand prix since Valencia 2022, was 22nd at the end of his first session on the factory Yamaha.
The Australian posted a 1m22.969s having completed 27 laps on the M1, with his best effort being 2.385s off the pace.