Soon to be not MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez drew first blood in the opening practice at Valenica this morning, setting a 1’31.250 on his 17th lap of 20 to go under his own lap record but came close to crashing at the end of the session as he lost the front into turn eight during his final effort and was lucky to escape after saving it on his knee.
The Repsol Honda man pipped fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo by almost two-tenths of a second as Lorenzo experimented with the extra-soft front Bridgestone while Marquez remained faithful to the medium. Lorenzo managed a 1’31.343 but is nothing like as consistent as Marquez in terms of pace.
Marquez managed ten laps in the 1’31s bracket in the first session while Lorenzo put in five. Third-placed Dani Pedrosa, who is the most successful of the big four at Valencia, only managed two with a best of 1’31.553 while Valentino Rossi put in three, so Marquez’ pace is already ominous.
Rossi finished fifth on the session timesheets with a best of 1’31.665 and was just pipped to fourth by fellow Rimini coast resident Andrea Dovizioso. The works Ducati man banged in a 1’31.642 with his last lap to nab fourth place after a 1’31.998 the lap before.
Pol Espargaro ended in sixth place after hanging about the top five for most of the session and is 0.642s off the pace while Andrea Iannone, on the second factory GP15, finished in seventh place. Britain’s Cal Crutchlow was eighth and a second slower than Marquez with Aleix Espargaro and Yonny Hernandez rounded out the top ten.
Stefan Bradl managed to stick the Aprilia in 11th, just ahead of Danilo Petrucci with Ducati test rider Michele Pirro in 13th. Maverick Vinales recovered from an early crash to come back to 16th, one ahead of Bradley Smith, who is seriously struggling in Spain. Hector Barbera finished as top Open class in 18th place, one ahead of Nicky Hayden while Scott Redding is having a nightmare finishing down in 22nd, one place behind Eugene Laverty.
