It was an emotional opening day of the Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona. Organizers flew banners and raised money for the victims of the flooding that forced MotoGP to move the race scheduled for Valencia to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It also was emotional for three MotoGP riders – Augusto Fernandez, Takaaki Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro – who are racing for the last time in their careers.

With nothing to lose and a title on the line, Francesco Bagnaia pushed hard and topped the last practice session. With the temperature dropping precipitiously at the end of the day, Championship leader Jorge Martin tried to respond when title rival Bagnaia went quickest. Martin pushed the front and nearly crashed, saving a front-end slide that left his feet off the pegs.