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Practice report

Lorenzo sends an early warning shot to rivals in Jerez MotoGP practice

Factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo led the way in the first practice session for this weekend's MotoGP round at Jerez, ahead of Suzuki's Aleix Espargaro and Honda's Cal Crutchlow.

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Yamaha MotoGP

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team and Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing and Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Hector Barbera, Avintia Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Scott Redding, Marc VDS Racing Team Honda

Lorenzo fired an early warning shot across the bow of his MotoGP rivals after leaping to the top of the timesheets in front of his home fans at the Spanish circuit.

After a troubled start to the year, Lorenzo was back to his ultra-smooth self and wasted no time in getting up to speed, setting a fastest time of 1m39.174s early on.

That put the Yamaha rider 0.049s faster than Espargaro, whose best effort came in the closing stages using the softer compound rear tyre.

The Suzuki rider looked set to improve further on the following lap, but lost the chance to go quickest with an early mistake. 

LCR Honda rider Crutchlow was a further 0.514s off Lorenzo in third, going ahead of Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso by just five thousandths with a last-minute improvement, while the Tech 3 Yamaha of Pol Espargaro completed the top five.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi got his first day of practice off to a solid start with sixth position and a best lap of 1m39.872s, a thousandth behind the younger Espargaro and just ahead of the second Suzuki of Maverick Vinales.

Marc Marquez took to the track with a modified grip on the left handlebar of his Honda RC213V to aid the healing of his little finger that he broke in a motocross accident. The double champion managed a best time of 1m39.914s to take eighth place.

Hector Barbera was the top Open class rider after taking ninth position on the Avintia Racing Ducati, one place ahead of Marc VDS rider Scott Redding, who rounded out the top 10.

Practice results:

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m39.174
Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 0.049
Cal Crutchlow Honda 0.563
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 0.568
Pol Espargaro Yamaha 0.697
Valentino Rossi Yamaha 0.698
Maverick Vinales Suzuki 0.735
Marc Marquez Honda 0.740
Hector Barbera Ducati 0.763
10  Scott Redding Honda 0.793
11  Stefan Bradl Forward Yamaha 0.863
12  Andrea Iannone Ducati 0.917
13  Loris Baz Forward Yamaha 0.918
14  Eugene Laverty Honda 0.940
15  Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1.191
16  Bradley Smith Yamaha 1.218
17  Nicky Hayden Honda 1.347
18  Yonny Hernandez Ducati 1.430
19  Karel Abraham Honda 1.885
20  Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1.890
21  Jack Miller Honda 2.027
22  Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2.242
23  Mike Di Meglio Ducati 2.259
24  Marco Melandri Aprilia 2.740
25  Alex de Angelis ART 3.159

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