FP1 at The Decider: Quartararo fastest, Bagnaia 17th

Fabio Quartararo has done his MotoGP™ title hopes no harm at all by topping FP1 for #TheDecider at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ rider set a 1:31.399 midway through the opening 45-minute session at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with the same Michelin medium slick on the rear as he had during his first run, to prevail by a margin of 0.035 seconds. Next on the timesheet was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), courtesy of the 1:31.434 which he set on his opening run. It was not all smooth sailing for the eight-time World Champion, however, given he crashed halfway through proceedings when he folded the front of his RC213V at Turn 2 – rider okay.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who starts the weekend with a 23-point Championship lead as he aims to deliver a riders’ title to Bologna for the first time in 15 years, took a slow-and-steady approach, finishing just 17th-quickest on a 1:31.999. One rider who was pushing hard at the end of FP1 was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder, who jumped to third with a the chequered flag out with new medium Michelins on the front and rear of what was a radically revised spec of chassis which he was trying out.

Fourth for the morning went to Binder’s future teammate, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), who lapped as fast as a 1:31.542. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) rounded out the top five on a 1:31.564, while Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) would be classified 24th after he had a spill at Turn 1.

We are set to get a truer read of Bagnaia’s speed in FP2 later this Friday at 14:10 (GMT +1) – so do not miss that!

MotoGP™ FP1 Top 10

1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) – 1:31.399
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.035
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.071
4. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.143
5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.165
6. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.285
7. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.363
8. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.376
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.383
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.410

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