Motegi MotoGP: Dovizioso leads Marquez in first practice
Andrea Dovizioso sent Ducati to the top of the time sheets in opening practice with his final flying lap of Twin-Ring Motegi to eclipse Marc Marquez by a quarter-second.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The #04 Ducati Desmosedici GP16 lapped the course in 1min45.786sec to beat Honda’s championship favourite Marquez by 0.245 seconds.
Yamaha pair Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were third and fourth, 0.395 and 0.436sec off top spot, ahead of last year’s winner, Dani Pedrosa on the second works Honda.
Maverick Vinales survived a couple of off-course excursions to put Suzuki sixth, just ahead of teammate Aleix Espargaro who also had a late off.
Cal Crutchlow went down toward the end of the session but put the LCR Honda eigthth, while Alvaro Bautista was an impressive ninth for Aprilia.
Hector Barbera, grabbing his first chance on a works Ducati, was 10th and just over a second off his pace-setting teammate.
The man who replaced him this weekend on the Avintia Ducati, Australian Superbike champion Mike Jones, was predictably last, 4.4sec but only two places behind teammate Loris Baz, who ended his session in the sand.
The injured Bradley Smith appears well out of sorts on the Tech 3 Yamaha – 21st and 4.4sec behind his teammate Pol Espargaro.
First practice times:
Cla | # | Driver | Bike | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'45.786 | |
2 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'46.031 | 0.245 |
3 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'46.181 | 0.395 |
4 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'46.222 | 0.436 |
5 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1'46.314 | 0.528 |
6 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1'46.349 | 0.563 |
7 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1'46.406 | 0.620 |
8 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'46.590 | 0.804 |
9 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1'46.721 | 0.935 |
10 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'46.853 | 1.067 |
11 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1'46.998 | 1.212 |
12 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'47.125 | 1.339 |
13 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | 1'47.426 | 1.640 |
14 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 1'47.641 | 1.855 |
15 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'47.704 | 1.918 |
16 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'47.777 | 1.991 |
17 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | 1'47.988 | 2.202 |
18 | 21 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | 1'48.058 | 2.272 |
19 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Honda | 1'48.409 | 2.623 |
20 | 76 | Loris Baz | Ducati | 1'48.914 | 3.128 |
21 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1'51.415 | 5.629 |
22 | 7 | Mike Jones | Ducati | 1'53.191 | 7.687 |
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