Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) kicked off his Motul Grand Prix of Japan by going fastest in FP1 thanks to a last lap time of 1:45.572, seeing the Spaniard beat fellow Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and his Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli on Friday morning.
???? @mvkoficial12 leads a Yamaha 1-2-3!
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) October 18, 2019
The Spaniard pips @sepangracing duo @FabioQ20 and @FrankyMorbido12 as the closing minutes of FP1 resemble a qualifying session! ????#JapaneseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/CuWiBQjuq4
A fully dry opening session of the weekend was in order for the premier class and with rain potentially threatening during the afternoon and on Saturday, fresh rubber was put in by a lot of the riders towards the end of the session. 2019 Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) led the way before quick times started being set, with Morbidelli and Quartararo taking turns to head the session before Viñales’ final flying lap.
That lap at the death placed the factory man 0.258 clear of the rest, with Morbidelli sitting 0.411 off Viñales. Marquez finished the session in P4, with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins 0.030 off the number 93 in P5. Rins’ teammate Joan Mir had a solid opening session to finish P6, with Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) completing the top 10.
We're seeing some late time attacks! ⏱️
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) October 18, 2019
The riders will have one eye on the forecast tomorrow, with rain expected for FP3! ????#JapaneseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/PxOjjflOUs
Three Yamahas dominated the times in the opening MotoGP™ Free Practice session of the weekend, can there be another manufacturer to top the times in FP2? Plenty are looking strong so don’t miss Friday’s afternoon action at 15:05 local time (GMT+9).
Top 10:
1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – 1:45.572
2. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.258
3. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.411
4. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.463
5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.493
6. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.553
7. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 0.625
8. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) + 0.634
9. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.643
10. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.717
Click here for the full results!