Jerez MotoGP: Marquez leads Lorenzo in FP1

Marquez led nearly the entire 45-minute session as he took the lead with his second flying lap, and stayed in front until just two minutes remained on the clock.

His teammate Lorenzo was then able to demote him by two tenths with a 1m38.045s, but Marquez fought back just as the chequered flag fell.

Marquez first lowered the benchmark by a tenth and then slightly improved once again on his last lap to end the session with a 1m37.921s, the only rider below the 1m38s barrier.

Lorenzo completed a Repsol Honda 1-2 with Maverick Vinales, whose Yamaha team used a winglet by the rear tyre similar to that of Ducati's controversial solution, taking third, 0.191s off the pace.

LCR's Takaaki Nakagami - who topped post-season testing at Jerez last year - took an impressive fourth to bring a third Honda into the top four, narrowly beating lead Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso.

SRT Yamaha duo Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli were sixth and ninth, sandwiching the Ducati GP19s of Jack Miller, who seemingly had arm-pump issues during the session, and Danilo Petrucci. The top 10 was completed by Suzuki's Alex Rins.

Johann Zarco was the top KTM in 12th but the Frenchman's session ended in a crash, the only rider to fall in FP1.

Aleix Espargaro was the fastest Aprilia rider, which also tested a rear tyre winglet, in 14th.

Honda tester Stefan Bradl kicked off his first wildcard of the season in 15th while Bradley Smith made his second appearance in 19th, right behind Rossi, who was 1.459s off the pace in 18th.

FP1 results

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'37.921
2	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	1'38.045	0.124
3	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'38.112	0.191
4	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'38.134	0.213
5	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'38.150	0.229
6	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'38.209	0.288
7	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'38.464	0.543
8	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'38.474	0.553
9	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'38.478	0.557
10	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'38.534	0.613
11	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'38.800	0.879
12	5	Johann Zarco	KTM	1'38.897	0.976
13	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'38.905	0.984
14	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'38.942	1.021
15	6	Stefan Bradl	Honda	1'38.975	1.054
16	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	1'39.064	1.143
17	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'39.141	1.220
18	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'39.380	1.459
19	38	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	1'39.410	1.489
20	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	1'39.667	1.746
21	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'39.675	1.754
22	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'39.949	2.028
23	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'40.313	2.392
24	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	1'41.093	3.172
View full results