Maverick Vinales took charge of proceedings on the first day of action for the season-ending Valencia MotoGP as drama aplenty unfolded elsewhere among his rivals during an incident-packed afternoon Practice.

The Aprilia Racing rider kept himself out of trouble in a session headlined by offs for multiple riders over the course of the hour and struggles for 2023 MotoGP title favourite Pecco Bagnaia after he failed to make the top ten cut for Q2.

In a staccato session punctuated by the deployment of several yellow flags - plus one red flag - due to various on-track incidents, Bagnaia couldn’t find his rhythm amid pressure from championship rival Jorge Martin during the closing stages, leaving him only 15th on the timesheets.

It means he will be forced to go again in Q1 to assure his passage into the pole-deciding Q2 session, unlike Martin who progressed smoothly with the second fastest time.

At the summit, however, it was Vinales, whose 1m 29.412s effort in the final ten minutes proved sufficient once Pol Espargaro’s late slip-off at Turn 3 triggered yellow flags that'd scupper a number of time attacks, Bagnaia’s included, coming in behind him.

In second, Martin reverted to some bolshy mind game tactics by shadowing Bagnaia very cosily in the final minutes, a strategy that paid dividends as he improved up the order while his distracted rival - who holds a 21-point lead going into the weekend’s two races - faltered.

FP1 pace setter Johann Zarco consolidated a strong start to the weekend for Pramac Ducati in third place, once again chased closely by Desmosedici counterpart Fabio di Giannantonio.

In fifth place, Marco Bezzecchi was the highest-placed of several riders to come down at some stage of the hour, the VR46 Ducati rider’s off occurring just five minutes into the session with an uncomfortable bounce through the gravel trap at Turn 9. 

It came just moments after Aleix Espargaro suffered a fast fall at Turn 1 before Augusto Fernandez and Alex Rins followed suit with their own issues within the first ten minutes.

It is Jack Miller, however, who will likely feel most beaten up tomorrow after suffering a huge high-side at Turn 3 with 15 minutes to go before following it up with another get off in the final minutes.

Despite this, Miller could still be counted among the ten riders that will progress to Q2 after bagging the ninth fastest time, together with KTM team-mate Brad Binder in sixth and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez in seventh. Raul Fernandez and Aleix Espargaro filled the remaining slots to make it three Aprilia RS-GPs in Q2.

It means several high-profile names will find themselves battling against Bagnaia in Q1 for one of only two remaining Q2 spots, including factory Ducati counterpart Enea Bastianini, Alex Marquez - down the order after crashes in each Practice session - Fabio Quartararo and Qatar MotoGP pole sitter Luca Marini.

2023 Valencia MotoGP, Circuit Ricardo Tormo - Practice Results

Friday - Conditions: Dry, Sunny

CLICK HERE for full results from each Valencia MotoGP session