Fabio Quartararo tops the opening practice of San Marino Grand Prix

Fabio Quartararo tops the opening practice of San Marino Grand Prix

Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo took the lead edging off Ducati’s Jack Miller and Michele Pirro in the first practice of the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano.

The Frenchman used just one pair of medium compound rubber for the duration of FP1 as he tried to fine-tune his M1 for Sunday’s race. The Yamaha rider was one of several riders to seize control of the test over the 45 minutes.

Quartararo put up three laps good for first place in the middle stages before being passed by Pirro and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. Quartararo then threw in a couple more flyers at the very end to win the opening session with a 1:32.313s.

Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini finished seventh on the Desmosedici ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins. VR46’s Luca Marini and Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco rounded out the top ten.

Brad Binder was the fastest KTM rider in 12th overall, barely behind Pol Espargaro, who was the highest-classified Honda rider in 11th, less than eight tenths off Quartararo’s benchmark.

In what is expected to be his final FP1 practice in the MotoGP, Andrea Dovizioso was down in 16th, barely behind Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez of LCR Honda, who was the last rider to be within a second of Quartararo.

Having never tested the GSX-RR before getting on the track this morning, Kazuki Watanabe, the Suzuki driver who will replace Joan Mir, faces a formidable challenge this weekend.

The Japanese driver completed 23 laps to finish 25th and last overall, 4.9 seconds behind the leading Yamaha and 2.4 seconds behind 24th-place Darryn Binder.

SAN MARINO MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS

POSRIDERNATTEAMTIME/DIFFLAPMAX
1Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)1’32.313s23/23297k
2Jack MillerAUSDucati Lenovo (GP22)+0.224s18/23301k
3Michele PirroITAAruba.it Racing (GP22)+0.380s15/19301k
4Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)+0.385s18/18298k
5Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)+0.393s16/20299k
6Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP22)+0.439s20/21300k
7Enea BastianiniITAGresini Ducati (GP21)+0.525s18/19301k
8Alex RinsSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.545s21/22298k
9Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.668s20/20298k
10Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)+0.686s18/21298k
11Pol EspargaroSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+0.792s18/21298k
12Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.894s24/24297k
13Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP21)*+0.905s21/21300k
14Alex MarquezSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+0.940s21/22298k
15Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+1.001s14/19296k
16Andrea DoviziosoITAWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)+1.122s17/20297k
17Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+1.249s13/24293k
18Miguel OliveiraPORRed Bull KTM (RC16)+1.323s8/21298k
19Raul FernandezSPAKTM Tech3 (RC16)*+1.374s20/21298k
20Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP22)+1.517s18/21298k
21Stefan BradlGERRepsol Honda (RC213V)+1.542s13/20297k
22Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP21)*+1.584s12/20298k
23Remy GardnerAUSKTM Tech3 (RC16)*+1.852s14/18293k
24Darryn BinderRSAWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)*+2.523s12/18294k
25Kazuki WatanabeJPNSuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+4.981s23/23292k

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