Aragon MotoGP: Marquez 1.6s clear in first practice

Repsol Honda rider Marquez quickly put himself 1.1s up on the field with a benchmark of 1m48.771s early on in the 45-minute Friday morning session, before working his way down to a 1m48.712s and then a 1m48.487s.

That was the quickest time until the closing minutes, when the reigning champion equipped a soft rear tyre to fire in a 1m47.030s - going two seconds faster than anyone else.

Marquez subsequently made one final improvement, posting a 1m46.689s to eclipse last year's pole position time set by Jorge Lorenzo and coming within two tenths of the all-time record Marquez himself set back in 2015.

Just one rider was able to come within two seconds of Marquez's fastest time, Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, who ended up 1.617s adrift of the pace with his final flyer.

Misano runner-up Fabio Quartararo was next on the Petronas Yamaha, 2.001s slower than Marquez, and 0.019s ahead of Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso. 

Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) and Joan Mir (Suzuki) set identical times to end up fifth and sixth, Miller's time being set first, ahead of Danilo Petrucci's Ducati.

The top 10 was completed by Pol Espargaro on the best of the KTMs, Franco Morbidelli on the second Petronas Yamaha and Takaaki Nakagami's LCR Honda.

Alex Rins was 13th-fastest on the second Suzuki, the early part of his session having been disrupted by a mechanical problem that required him to pull off the track.

Valentino Rossi endured a low-key start to the weekend in 17th place, over three seconds off the pace, while Mika Kallio began his tenure as Johann Zarco's replacement at KTM in 19th.

Lorenzo was 23rd and slowest on the second of the works Hondas, four seconds off the pace and behind Aprilia wildcard Bradley Smith.

Session results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'46.869
2	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'48.486	1.617
3	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'48.870	2.001
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'48.889	2.020
5	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'49.101	2.232
6	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'49.101	2.232
7	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'49.230	2.361
8	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'49.30	2.431
9	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'49.304	2.435
10	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'49.443	2.574
11	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'49.445	2.576
12	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'49.508	2.639
13	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'49.565	2.696
14	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	1'49.607	2.738
15	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'49.709	2.840
16	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	1'49.809	2.940
17	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'49.913	3.044
18	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'50.122	3.253
19	82	Mika Kallio	KTM	1'50.128	3.259
20	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'50.155	3.286
21	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	1'50.418	3.549
22	38	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	1'50.455	3.586
23	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	1'51.034	4.165
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