Takaaki Nakagami managed to lead the way in the opening practice session for the Argentina Grand Prix despite having arrived at the circuit just hours before the test.
Having initially been set to skip the weekend after testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday, the LCR Honda rider arrived in Argentina on Friday evening after managing to provide a negative test result, benefitting from Friday action at the venue being cancelled due to a freight delivery delay for the entire paddock.
The Japanese ace wasted no time in getting into the swing of things as the grand prix paddock headed out on to the Termas de Rio Hondo tarmac for the first time in three years, firing in the quickest time early on with a 1:40.473s.
Significant track evolution saw the times tumble as the extended-hour long session progressed, with the likes of reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro taking turns at the head of the timesheets.
Quartararo looked set to end the opening test of the event on top as the clock ticked down, though Nakagami managed to bang in a 1:39.028s at the death to move back to the point of the times by 0.127s over Quartararo.
Behind the lead duo came the factory Honda of Pol Espargaro, with brother Aleix and VR46 rookie Marco Bezzecchi just behind to complete the top five.
Alex Rins was the fastest of Suzuki’s pairing in sixth ahead of KTM’s Miguel Oliveira and the second Aprilia RS-GP of Maverick Vinales.
Brad Binder was ninth on the sister official KTM machine just clear of Joan Mir’s Suzuki, Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia just missing out on an early top ten spot with only FP2 left to try and secure a pole-shootout berth due to the shortened schedule.
Franco Morbidelli escaped a late-braking moment that saw him run through the gravel on the outside of Turn 1 to end up 18th just behind Ducati’s Jack Miller, while Stefan Bradl – who is deputising for the injured Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda outfit this weekend – managed the 22nd best effort.
Keyword: Nakagami leads opening Argentina practice ahead of Quartararo