Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso opted to start work early with Michelin’s soft rear tyre option and it carried him to second place on the MotoGP free practice one timesheet but still four-tenths behind Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
Dovizioso the later part of the session with softs all round while Quartararo, like all riders but Danilo Petrucci, concentrated on a soft front/medium rear option which took him to a best of 1’40.431 which was four-tenths outside the lap record of 1’40.021 set by the Iwata factory’s test rider Jorge Lorenzo two years ago.
Ecstar Suzuki’s Joan Mir towed Dovizioso around for four laps after an early crash but the youngster bounced back to third place on with a 1’41.060, six-tenths off the pace.
Last Sunday's race winner Maverick Vinales started the session with a full fuel tank and soft/medium tyres which he kept on for 22 laps.
The Monster Yamaha man is looking for further improvements to his early race pace and set his best of 1'41.105 on lap five and added ten more 1'41s to the tally.
Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro set his best lap with a brand new medium rear paired to a 18-lap old soft front and banked a 1'41.195 on his final lap to occupy fifth on the sheet.
Franco Morbidelli finished his morning's work in sixth with 1'41.219, set on lap seven, but went on to show good pace with the same tyres to put in nine 1'41s.
Alex Rins, on the second Ecstar Suzuki, ended in seventh and nine-tenths off the pace while Valentino Rossi was one further back and 1.1s slower than the man with whom he will swap bikes with in 2021.
Cal Crutchlow gritted his teeth to ride through not only his arm injury but also some snapped ankle ligaments (click here) to take ninth place with a 1'41.549/
Portugal's Miguel Oliveira completed the top ten with Taka Nakagami in 11th. Johann Zarco and Iker Lecuona were next along with Britain's Bradley Smith putting his Aprilia in 14th with Pecco Bagnaia rounding out the top 15.
Jack Miller, Danilo Petrucci and Brad Binder were all behind HRC test rider Stefan Bradl who is returning after surgery.
