MotoGP Indonesian GP: Morbidelli leads Vinales in first practice

The Mandalika weekend begins with Morbidelli setting the pace in FP1

Franco Morbidelli opened up top as the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix kicked off with Free Practice 1, the Italian comfortably heading off Maverick Vinales and Jorge Martin at the Mandalika Street Circuit.

In a season that has seen Morbidelli trail in the shadow of championship leading team-mate Martin, the Pramac Ducati rider was nonetheless the standard for much of a dusty first practice session around the Lombok venue.

Frequently bettering his own benchmark upon taking residence at the head of the timesheets with just under ten minutes of the session remaining, Morbidelli’s final effort of 1m30.689s ensured a comfortable 0.221s advantage over second-placed Vinales.

The Aprilia Racing rider made haste in the closing stages of the session to lift himself up the order, the Spaniard also posting his personal best lap at the final time of asking as the only other rider to dip below 1m31s.

Points leader Martin shrugged off a couple of leery moments while on quick laps to regroup for third on the second of the Pramac Ducatis, while Pedro Acosta spared KTM’s blushes with a big improvement that rebounded him from outside the top ten to fourth at the flag.

In fifth place, Johann Zarco gave Honda a rare opportunity to smile in what was a competitive start to the weekend for the ailing Japanese manufacturer.

Both Zarco and fellow LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami enjoyed stints at the head of the timesheets at different stages of the session, Zarco eventually settling in fifth and within a second of the top spot.

Though Nakagami slid further to 11th, factory Repsol counterpart Luca Marini - the pole sitter in Indonesia twelve months ago on the VR46 Ducati - was a confidence-boosting ninth fastest.

Marc Marquez headed up a trio of Ducatis in sixth place, the Gresini man followed by VR46's Marco Bezzecchi in seventh place and factory rider Enea Bastianini in eighth, while Bezzecchi's team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio completed the top ten behind Marini.

Further back, Francesco Bagnaia persevered with a familiar low key start to his weekend, the title contender making do with 14th place behind Gresini's Alex Marquez and KTM's Brad Binder in 12th and 13th respectively.

Fabio Quartararo held station inside the top ten for much of the session but a decision to sit out the final time attacks in the concluding minutes would see him shuffled down to 15th at the flag. Even so, he remained the quickest of the Yamaha riders with Alex Rins - back in action after being sidelined by illness a week ago at Misano - just behind in 16th.

Despite the sketchy conditions around a circuit that is little used outside of its annual MotoGP date, there would be just a single crash for Miguel Oliveira during the 45-minute session.

The Trackhouse Aprilia rider was left visibly dazed after being flicked into a high-side at Turn 4 with 15 minutes of the session remaining, Oliveira going on to pay a visit to the medical centre as a consequence.

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	20	1'30.689		171.090	311
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	21	+0.221 1'30.910	0.221	170.674	313
3	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	20	+0.529 1'31.218	0.308	170.098	313
4	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	18	+0.582 1'31.271	0.053	169.999	314
5	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	15	+0.767 1'31.456	0.185	169.655	311
6	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	20	+0.815 1'31.504	0.048	169.566	310
7	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	22	+0.829 1'31.518	0.014	169.540	312
8	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	19	+0.940 1'31.629	0.111	169.335	313
9	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	19	+1.014 1'31.703	0.074	169.198	311
10	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	18	+1.037 1'31.726	0.023	169.155	307
11	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	21	+1.078 1'31.767	0.041	169.080	308
12	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	20	+1.087 1'31.776	0.009	169.063	308
13	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	22	+1.095 1'31.784	0.008	169.049	316
14	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	19	+1.105 1'31.794	0.010	169.030	315
15	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	18	+1.168 1'31.857	0.063	168.914	310
16	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	22	+1.317 1'32.006	0.149	168.641	311
17	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	21	+1.337 1'32.026	0.020	168.604	313
18	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	19	+1.338 1'32.027	0.001	168.602	311
19	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	20	+1.505 1'32.194	0.167	168.297	310
20	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	20	+1.565 1'32.254	0.060	168.187	310
21	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	20	+1.784 1'32.473	0.219	167.789	313
22	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	13	+1.953 1'32.642	0.169	167.483	309
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