The opening Moto2 action at Jerez saw a confident Senna Agius riding on the very limit as he set the first ever sub 1m39s run, for a new lap record.

The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider was in his element, riding confidently at the edge of the limit, sliding his rear around the final turn for a new record best of 1m38.973s.

The impressive run around the track was close to the pole time set in MotoGP back in 2013 in Jerez, by Jorge Lorenzo.

There was a light at the end of a the tunnel for the rider to come closest to the Australian, as Alonso Lopez – who has not featured on a Moto2 podium since the COTA round of 2025 – looked back to his best, coming just 0.079s outside the new benchmark for Italjet Gresini.

• 2026 Spanish MotoGP Friday Practice Build Up: Can Aprilia continue strong 2026?

The whole timed practice session was a close affair, with the man who had just set the previous record in FP1, Barry Baltus, third for Fantic Racing.

Fourth placed Collin Veijer had also dipped under the morning lap when he lead the times earlier in the session on his way to fourth with Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Daniel Holgado was the better of the two Aspar runners in fifth.

A late lap pulled Izan Guevara from 16th to sixth – the best Boscoscuro in Practice with Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha.

Daniel Munoz placed seventh for Italtrans, ahead of Mario Aji, who had been as high as second in the tight session on his way to eighth for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia.

The top 10 times on the opening day were completed by David Alonso, back on track for ninth after a huge crash in FP1 and championship leader Manuel Gonzalez on the second Dynavolt bike – almost half a second behind his team-mate Agius.

Alex Escrig had topped the Jerez test for forward with an unofficial 1m 38s lap, but could not match that time now back at Jerez, in 11th on Friday.

The remaining Q2 places went to QJMotor’s Ivan Ortola in 12th, Sergio Garcia in 13th for Gresini and Celestino Vietti in 14th for the SpeedRS Team.

Tony Arbolino was the rider to just miss out in 15th for Fantic, just six tenths away from the top time.

Luca Lunetta was the top rookie in 24th for the Beta Tools SpeedRS Team.

Official Spanish Moto2 Records:
Fastest race lap: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1m40.351s
All time lap record: Deniz Oncu (2025) 1m39.564s
New lap record: Senna Agius (2026 -Practice) 1m38.973s
Best Pole: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1m39.858s

Free Practice 1

The opening session saw Baltus straight on new lap record pace, dropping his lap time to a 1m 39.525s.

The first session was also closely contested, and saw Vietti just 0.030s slower as the top Boscoscuro, with Agius completing a tight top three.

There was only seven thousandths between the Australian and fourth placed Holgado. Veijer completed a competitive top five, with all of the top 11 within half a second of the new benchmark from Baltus – a second covered the top 22 riders.

That closeness saw championship leader Gonzalez down in eighth, frustrated by slower riders on track on one of his better efforts.

That rider was Alberto Ferrandez, who arrives in Spain with a pit lane start penalty after his turn one lunge caused a pile up at the start of the last race in Austin.

The injuries in that incident picked up by rookie Angel Piqueras – a femur and ankle fracture, sees the QJMotor team bring in Marcos Ramirez as his replacement, with Luca Lunetta taking over as the top newcomer in Moto2 in the session, finishing 24th.

There were three crashes in FP1.

David Alonso was on red sectors and pushing to the limit when he found it, smashing the chassis of his Aspar and leaving his mechanics a lot of work to do ahead of the afternoon session. Second at the time of his off saw a drop to 10th.

Deniz Oncu had held the lap record heading into Friday, he slid into the gravel at turn nine.

After the chequered flag Adrian Huertas fell at turn 11.

FP1 times can be found below.