Fabio Quartararo topped the timesheets as the San Marino MotoGP kicked off at Misano, the Frenchman establishing a sizeable margin over the opposition in an otherwise close Free Practice 1 session.
Tipped for success this weekend on the Petronas SRT Yamaha after a dominant performance in testing at the Marco Simoncelli World Circuit two weeks ago, Quartararo was straight up to speed with a 1m 33.153secs.
Placing him almost four tenths clear of second place man Marc Marquez, his pace belied a session in which lap times were very close with only one second covering 2nd to 17th.
Maverick Vinales led the factory Yamaha challenge in third position, ahead of Ducati wild-card Michele Pirro and the Espargaro brothers, Aprilia’s Aleix ahead of KTM’s Pol. Home favourites Franco Morbidelli and Danilo Petrucci followed in seventh and eighth.
Valentino Rossi debuts carbon swingarm
Valentino Rossi posted the ninth quickest time as Yamaha’s much vaunted carbon swingarm made its public debut ahead of a possible race appearance this weekend. The update is seen as another opportunity for Yamaha to convince Rossi to stay beyond 2020.
Tito Rabat was an impressive tenth on the Avintia Ducati – despite crashing at turn five - ahead of the factory GP19 ridden by Andrea Dovizioso, British MotoGP winner Alex Rins, Pecco Bagnaia and Joan Mir, the latter making his first official session outing since his Brno testing crash.
Cal Crutchlow could only manage 16th best, while Jorge Lorenzo’s slow road to recovery inched on in 21st.
