Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli gave Yamaha some much needed relief in free practice at the Mandalika Circuit as they comfortably topped the Friday timesheets ahead of the Indonesian MotoGP, round two of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship season.
The defending champion - coming into this weekend on the back foot after a lacklustre performance during the season opening Qatar MotoGP - recovered from an early stop with technical issues to fire to the top of the leaderboard in the closing stages.
With inclement weather conditions hampering progress during FP1, lap times came down significantly during the final moments of FP2 with Quartararo eventually leading the way with a 1m 31.608s, 0.030s clear of factory Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli.
A strong about-turn for Yamaha after a dismal showing in Lusail, Quartararo fared better than fellow MotoGP World Champions Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, the former suffering a fast fall at Turn 11 to leave him down the order in 22nd, while the latter ran off on his quick final lap to end up 20th.
It puts the pair under pressure ahead of Saturday’s all-important FP3 session amid unpredictable tropical weather conditions being forecast for the remainder of the weekend.
Qatar MotoGP winner Enea Bastianini was another to take a tumble but was still fifth fastest, just behind fellow Ducati riders Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin on the Pramac machines.
Jack Miller made it four Desmos in a row in sixth position, ahead of top Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro, while KTM squeezed both of its factory riders into the top ten with Brad Binder leading Miguel Oliveira. Suzuki’s Alex Rins holds the final provisional Q2 spot in tenth.
Elsewhere, Andrea Dovizioso enjoyed a stronger start to his weekend on the RNF Yamaha in 11th, while Fabio di Giannantonio was the best of the rookies in 14th, just ahead of Ducati counterpart Marco Bezzecchi.
Quickest during the recent pre-season test at Mandalika, Pol Espargaro was surprisingly off form as he laboured to 19th quickest on the second of the Repsol Hondas but with just 0.9s covering the top 17 and the track getting faster, a dry FP3 should ensure significant improvements.
2022 Indonesia MotoGP | Mandalika Street Circuit | Friday Practice RESULTS
| 2022 Indonesia MotoGP | Mandalika Street Circuit | Friday Practice RESULTS | Round 2 / 21 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | MotoGP Team | MotoGP Bike | Timing |
| 1 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 31.608 |
| 2 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 31.638 |
| 3 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1m 31.893 |
| 4 | Jorge Martin | ESP | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1m 31.904 |
| 5 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 31.921 |
| 6 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | 1m 31.965 |
| 7 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 1m 32.008 |
| 8 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 32.017 |
| 9 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 32.049 |
| 10 | Alex Rins | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1m 32.106 |
| 11 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 32.303 |
| 12 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda | Honda RC213V | 1m 32.314 |
| 13 | Maverick Vinales | ESP | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprila RS-GP | 1m 32.344 |
| 14 | Fabio di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 32.418 |
| 15 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 32.471 |
| 16 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda | Honda RC213V | 1m 32.554 |
| 17 | Raul Fernandez | ESP | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 32.557 |
| 18 | Remy Gardner | AUS | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 32.626 |
| 19 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1m 32.628 |
| 20 | Joan Mir | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1m 32.641 |
| 21 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | 1m 32.845 |
| 22 | Marc Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1m 32.847 |
| 23 | Darryn Binder | RSA | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 33.014 |
| 24 | Luca Marini | ITA | VR46 Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 33.223 |
