Submitted by Zara Daniela on
Back in action on the fairly familiar playground of Jerez barely a handful of days after last engaging in battle, the premier class was quick to get up to speed. With the world champion sitting this one out and Honda’s next fastest man also recovering from surgery, the top ten was left open for a Yamaha invasion. And while plenty of Yamahas took the invitation, KTM also showed up to the party early. Maverick Vinales robbed his teammate of top spot on the final lap of FP1 but second on the timesheets was fine progress from last weekend for Valentino Rossi. Rookie Brad Binder led the KTM brigade in third spot, three tenths off the lead and ahead of Franco Morbidelli.
Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira added two more KTMs at the forefront of proceedings, with Jack Miller the top Ducati in seventh position. Takaaki Nakagami carried Honda to its only top ten placement in the session, in eighth, while Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Dovizioso claimed the rest of the top ten positions. Joan Mir, Iker Lecuona and Fabio Quartararo were not too far off, about seven tenths off the lead, but the Frenchman was confident in his speed and not tempted by a late time attack in FP1.
Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins were back on track after their respective injuries one week ago and predictably struggled on their first outing, finishing last, a couple seconds off the pace.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 1'37.063 | ||
| 2 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'37.205 | 0.142 | 0.142 |
| 3 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 1'37.370 | 0.307 | 0.165 |
| 4 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 1'37.416 | 0.353 | 0.046 |
| 5 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 1'37.442 | 0.379 | 0.026 |
| 6 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 1'37.492 | 0.429 | 0.050 |
| 7 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'37.566 | 0.503 | 0.074 |
| 8 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 1'37.592 | 0.529 | 0.026 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'37.735 | 0.672 | 0.143 |
| 10 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'37.739 | 0.676 | 0.004 |
| 11 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1'37.749 | 0.686 | 0.010 |
| 12 | 27 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | 1'37.832 | 0.769 | 0.083 |
| 13 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1'37.892 | 0.829 | 0.060 |
| 14 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 1'37.955 | 0.892 | 0.063 |
| 15 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 1'37.957 | 0.894 | 0.002 |
| 16 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'37.997 | 0.934 | 0.040 |
| 17 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 1'38.309 | 1.246 | 0.312 |
| 18 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati | 1'38.393 | 1.330 | 0.084 |
| 19 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia | 1'38.692 | 1.629 | 0.299 |
| 20 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'39.050 | 1.987 | 0.358 |
| 21 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'40.222 | 3.159 | 1.172 |
| 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda |
Comments
BB
Brad Binder looking to be the real deal in terms of speed. One to watch for sure. Let's hope VR can keep the pace up.
Celebrazioni!
Valentino topped the times when the checkered flag came out !! Yay! V.R.46 finished fastest, then as Zara reports "Maverick Vinales robbed his teammate of top spot on the final lap of FP1" , never mind only first practice! Good to see Mav going rapidly too.
Welcome back Cal & Alex.
Eight months of nothing then two gps in a week coo-ee!
Feel free to go back and read
Feel free to go back and read comments from Monday through last night re Rossi here. And now see NONE of those people saying a thing.
Told you so.
Shame on you re a few comments.
FP1 had found setup and is fine, thanks.
BINDER! KTM!
This wknd brought to you by pain meds and scouring data for 4 days. Betcha Saturday Marc gets a respectable time in, then can't go race distance on pace Sunday at best. Likely to not race. Crashes out not being able to wrangle that thing onto a right turn line at worst.