MotoGP German GP: Miller heads Ducati 1-2 in opening practice

For the first time since he made his MotoGP debut in 2013, a rider other than Marc Marquez will win at the Sachsenring this weekend as the six-time world champion continues his recovery from a fourth right arm surgery.

Pramac’s Johann Zarco, who ended Marquez's pole run at the German GP last year, set the early pace on his Ducati in FP1.

The French rider removed Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli from the top of the timesheets with a 1m22.081s just over five minutes into the 45-minute FP1, before improving to a 1m21.791s.

Zarco then found a 1m21.719s before Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro took over with a 1m21.699s – though it was a brief stint leading the field, as Zarco edged ahead a moment later with a 1m21.655s.

With just under half an hour to go, Miller on the factory team Ducati went fastest with a 1m21.479s.

Miller comes into the Germany weekend having announced a two-year deal with KTM starting next year, with the Australian revealing on Thursday that he has been assured by Ducati that he will continue to receive bike updates in 2022.

Miller’s lap time remained the benchmark as a fairly uneventful FP1 ticked away, though three riders suffered crashes.

Andrea Dovizioso, RNF MotoGP Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

RNF Racing’s Andrea Dovizioso fell from his Yamaha at Turn 1 with 21 minutes remaining, before Honda’s Pol Espargaro followed him in a few minutes later.

Just moments after that, Suzuki’s Alex Rins had an identical front-end crash at Turn 1. Having fractured his wrist in the controversial Turn 1 collision at Barcelona with Takaaki Nakagami, Rins parked it after his FP1 spill.

Pol Espargaro would suffer a second crash at Turn 1 with just under 10 minutes to go, the rear-end of his Honda letting go under braking and flicking him into a highside he took a few minutes to recover from.

Miller’s 1m21.479s went unchallenged through to the chequered flag as most didn’t switch to fresh tyres across FP1.

Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia shadowed him by 0.015 seconds, with reigning world champion and current points leader Fabio Quartararo completing the top three on his Yamaha.

Zarco slid to fourth in the end ahead of Nakagami, with Aleix Espargaro sixth on his Aprilia ahead of VR46’s Luca Marini – who did run fresh rubber late on in FP1 – and Dovizioso.

Jorge Martin, who underwent wrist surgery after the Barcelona race, was 0.256s off the pace in ninth on the second of the Pramac Ducatis ahead of LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez.

Maverick Vinales was 11th on an Aprilia carrying a new aero fairing on the side of the RS-GP, with Pol Espargaro 12th after his double crash ahead of Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Morbidelli.

Brad Binder was KTM’s top runner in 15th ahead of Gresini duo Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Rins was 19th after his crash.

FP2 for the 2022 MotoGP German GP is at 2:10pm local time (1:10pm BST).

Results

Cla	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Jack Miller	Ducati	22	1'21.479
2	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	22	1'21.494	0.015
3	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	25	1'21.557	0.078
4	Johann Zarco	Ducati	23	1'21.655	0.176
5	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	22	1'21.660	0.181
6	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	22	1'21.665	0.186
7	Luca Marini	Ducati	21	1'21.671	0.192
8	Andrea Dovizioso	Yamaha	18	1'21.730	0.251
9	Jorge Martin	Ducati	23	1'21.735	0.256
10	Alex Marquez	Honda	24	1'21.772	0.293
11	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	23	1'21.813	0.334
12	Pol Espargaro	Honda	15	1'21.822	0.343
13	Joan Mir	Suzuki	23	1'21.845	0.366
14	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	27	1'21.939	0.460
15	Brad Binder	KTM	23	1'21.944	0.465
16	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	23	1'22.057	0.578
17	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Ducati	23	1'22.152	0.673
18	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	24	1'22.237	0.758
19	Alex Rins	Suzuki	13	1'22.251	0.772
20	Marco Bezzecchi	Ducati	26	1'22.475	0.996
21	Remy Gardner	KTM	22	1'22.598	1.119
22	Stefan Bradl	Honda	23	1'22.547	1.068
23	Raúl Fernández	KTM	22	1'22.807	1.328
24	Darryn Binder	Yamaha	24	1'22.996	1.517
View full results