Bagnaia leads Martin in Valencia MotoGP FP1

Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia took the early advantage on day one of the MotoGP season finale in Valencia, Spain, leading a trio of Ducati machines in FP1

Bagnaia, who can clinch the MotoGP world championship by finishing in the top 14 in Sunday's race, set a best time of 1:30.473 seconds, 0.131 seconds faster than Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin, on a track where Ducati have always fared well.

Marco Bezzecchi of Mooney VR46 Racing Team was third, ahead of Championship leader Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha, who finished fourth, and Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia Racing.

Quartararo leads championship by 23 points

Quartararo leads the standings by 23 points from Bagnaia heading into the weekend but will be wary of his record around the Valencia circuit, where he crashed out of the race in 2021 and finished 14th the year before.

The French rider, who is aiming to become the first Yamaha rider since Jorge Lorenzo in 2015 to win the MotoGP world championship, was unable to improve his time on his final lap of FP1 after hitting traffic.

However, the session ended with Quartararo top of the standings in the combined times with a 1:30.016 set in FP1, ahead of Bagnaia, Espargaro, Martin and Bezzecchi.