Vinales tops first MotoGP practice of 2017 season

After Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was quickest out the box, it was a familiar scene from preseason by the end of the first track action at Losail International Circuit – Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) on top and Repsol Honda Team’s reigning Champion Marc Marquez in second, 0.596 off P1.

Maverick Vinales led the way ahead of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in Free Practice 1

67% humidity and a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius greeted the grid on Day 1, with a single practice session on Thursday at the Grand Prix of Qatar due to the altered timetable.

Vinales’ stunning chart topper of a lap was a 1:54.316 on the soft tyre – only four tenths off the pole lap record set by then-rookie Jorge Lorenzo on his MotoGP™ debut in 2008, making a record-breaking weekend look even more likely.

Another scene familiar from preseason was Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), who was third in the session – after the ‘Baby Samurai’ was the only rider other than Vinales to feature in the top five at every test in 2017.

Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had yet another impressive session, fastest rookie and taking P4 on the timesheets on a final dash – with Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) completing the top five as the quickest Ducati on track in his GP weekend debut in red.

Another incredible performance came from Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz, who shot up into the top six on his final lap. LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow recovered from an early mechanical problem to take seventh, just ahead of the second fastest rookie Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3).

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was ninth quickest after a late improvement – but 1.483 off his new teammate Vinales and looking for a good step forward as the ‘Doctor’ managed on Day 2 of the #QatarTest. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider Aleix Espargaro completed the top ten.

There were crashes in FP1 for Sam Lowes (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Aspar Team), with all riders ok.

The MotoGP™ field are back out on Friday and open the night at 18:00 local time (GMT +3).

Results

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Vinales Maverick	25	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team	Yamaha	1'54.316
2	Marquez Marc	93	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0.596
3	Pedrosa Dani	26	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0.894
4	Folger Jonas	94	GER	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1.271
5	Lorenzo Jorge	99	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1.291
6	Baz Loris	76	FRA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1.308
7	Crutchlow Cal	35	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	1.323
8	Zarco Johann	5	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1.476
9	Rossi Valentino	46	ITA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team	Yamaha	1.483
10	Espargaro Aleix	41	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1.556
11	Dovizioso Andrea	4	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1.557
12	Redding Scott	45	GBR	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	1.684
13	Iannone Andrea	29	ITA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	1.711
14	Bautista Alvaro	19	SPA	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	1.812
15	Abraham Karel	17	CZE	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	2.083
16	Petrucci Danilo	9	ITA	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	2.103
17	Miller Jack	43	AUS	Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	2.137
18	Rins Alex	42	SPA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	2.186
19	Rabat Tito	53	SPA	Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	2.409
20	Barbera Hector	8	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	2.409
21	Espargaro Pol	44	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	3.314
22	Lowes Sam	22	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	3.571
23	Smith Bradley	38	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	3.798