Full FP1 times at the German MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo has notched in two late flying laps to surge to the top of the timesheet in the opening practice session at the German MotoGP and push out Marc Marquez.
Fresh from back-to-back pole positions and podiums in Barcelona and Assen, the Petronas Yamaha rider has come into the German round nursing arm pump forearm pain but has shown no signs of it as he bolted to the fastest lap time of 1m 21.390s using a fresh soft-medium tyre combination on a late FP1 run.
That time edged out Marquez, long-time leader in the morning session, as the Repsol Honda rider looks to pull off a perfect 10 at Sachsenring having taken nine consecutive pole positions and victories across all classes in his career at the German track.
A resurgent Valentino Rossi enjoyed one of his strongest starts to a race weekend in third place, albeit almost half a second off Quartararo, while Alex Rins tucked into fourth place for Suzuki just ahead of Assen winner Maverick Vinales who ensured three Yamahas made it into the top five.
Andrea Dovizioso led the Ducati charge in sixth place, with all factory GP19 riders trying wheel covers on both front and rear wheels in FP1, with Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller slotting into seventh place.
Andrea Iannone has continued his rapid improvements on the Aprilia by taking eighth place in the morning session ahead of LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami who is fighting on with ligament damage suffered in his crash with Rossi in last weekend’s Dutch race.
Nakagami’s team-mate Cal Crutchlow rounded out the top 10, who is also looking after a tibia injury sustained in a cycling accident between the Dutch and German rounds, to see Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro narrowly miss out in 11th place.
Karel Abraham benefitted from a tow following Marquez to surge up to 12th place on the Avintia Ducati in front of Petronas Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
It was a muted start to the weekend for Danilo Petrucci, fresh from securing a Ducati contract extension for 2020, down in 15th place.
With Johann Zarco in 16th on the factory KTM, Jorge Lorenzo’s Repsol Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl claimed 17th place.
Francesco Bagnaia suffered a mid-session fall for Pramac Ducati restraining him to 18th place as Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir, Tito Rabat and Hafizh Syahrin completed the FP1 times.
