Pol Espargaro matched his preseason dominance in Indonesia as free practice one fired up at the Mandalika Street Circuit on Friday.
The Repsol Honda outpaced his experienced teammate Marc Marquez by a mere 0.079s on the RC213V as he claimed the fastest 1’33.499 lap of the opening session in the tropics, with Red Bull KTM’s Miguel Oliveira splitting the pair for second as the session met the flag.
While the Mandalika Circuit had seen a deluge of rain for the support classes, MotoGP were out on slicks for the entirety of the first 45 minutes of action. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Franky Morbidelli led the way in the early times before the Ducati-powered Johann Zarco and Jack Miller arrived with team-mate Fabio Quartararo challenging for the top spot after 15-minutes of running.
The Portuguese rider was the next to shine as the times began to heat up but it was the Hondas of Espargaro and Marquez who would take charge in the latter stages. Zarco returned to the lead at the halfway stage with Morbidelli once again making his presence felt with five minutes left on the clock but the top trio were not to be outdone and the Italian was forced to settle for fourth.
Aleix Espargaró trailed his younger brother by seven-tenths as the session concluded, the Aprilia heading the second KTM of Brad Binder, Qatar winner Enea Bastianini, Pecco Bagnaia and Suzuki’s Joan Mir in the top ten.
Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller sat 11th, two-tenths adrift of his Italian teammate while Andrea Dovizioso showed promise on the WithU RNF Yamaha in 12th. Raul Fernandez claimed the opening top rookie honour in 13th, just over a second shy of the fastest effort with Takaaki Nakagami and Maverick Viñales - who had made a brief appearance at the top of the times on his eighth lap - completed the top 15 with Quartararo once again struggling from 16th.
