Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) set a late 1:31.455 to lead MotoGP™ FP1 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Frenchman sits 0.057 ahead of Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller and just 0.077 ahead of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) as we see a tight classification on Friday morning.
Despite it being cold, the sun was out at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo as the final race weekend of 2019 got underway. Marquez was out the blocks quickest but Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales soon closed the Spaniard’s 0.9 advantage to a tenth, with the other three Yamahas of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) were chasing Marquez inside the top five.
However, in the closing stages – after Rossi crashed unhurt at Turn 4 – Miller was setting red sectors and the Aussie went fastest by a slim margin, but Quartararo then set the quickest lap of the session on his final flying lap to end FP1 in top spot. Behind Miller and Marquez was Viñales, with Morbidelli closing out a top five that is covered by 0.203.
On his first appearance in the premier class, Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) finished just 0.189 behind teammate Hafizh Syahrin in FP1 – an impressive debut from the Spaniard.
Karel Abraham (Reale Avinita Racing) crashed at Turn 10 – rider ok.
Top 10:
1. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) – 1:31.455
2. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 0.057
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.077
4. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.140
5. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.203
6. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.339
7. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.462
8. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.521
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) + 0.677
10. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.751
Click here for the full results!