The reigning world champion has won the Spanish GP for the past two years and comes into the 2024 edition off the back of two disappointing rounds in Portugal and America.
In a crash-strewn session, Bagnaia left it to the end of the hour to produce a 1m36.025s to lead the way by 0.100 seconds from Aprilia’s Vinales.
Marc Marquez looked on course to take top spot from Bagnaia at the end but came up just short with a 1m36.168s to move ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and championship leader Jorge Martin.
The Pramac rider set the early pace in the hour-long afternoon session at Jerez with a 1m37.811s, trading top spot with KTM’s Brad Binder before the South African edged clear with a 1m36.794s inside the first 10 minutes.
Then followed a period of several crashes in quick succession, with Bezzecchi, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) and Vinales (Aprilia) sliding off.
Just over halfway into the session, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo came off his bike at Turn 7, with Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Dani Pedrosa (KTM) and Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse) also suffering falls.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Vinales pushed for an early soft tyre run on his Aprilia and produced a 1m36.482s.
Source: Autosport