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Indianapolis MotoGP: Marquez tops opening practice session

Marc Marquez kicked off the Indianapolis MotoGP weekend with a commanding fastest time in opening practice

The championship leader spent much of the session batting for the top spot with his sometime Moto2 title rival Stefan Bradl.

The German, who sealed a new LCR Honda deal at the start of the weekend, managed to depose factory Honda man Marquez from first place several times in the first part of the morning.

In the end Marquez stamped his authority on the session with a 1m40.781s, putting him half a second clear of the pack at that pack.

Cal Crutchlow ultimately emerged as his closest rival. A 1m41.081s from the Briton as he took the chequered flag moved his Tech 3 Yamaha to second, exactly three tenths off Marquez.

World champion Jorge Lorenzo had a spell on top and ultimately beat Bradl to third place on his Yamaha.

Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi edged out Alvaro Bautista and Dani Pedrosa for the final top-five place.

Nicky Hayden was top home rider in ninth, just behind his Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Hayden's countryman Ben Spies began his MotoGP comeback with a solid 11th place.

The 12 prototypes filled the top 12 positions, meaning CRT pacesetter Aleix Espargaro had to settle for an unusually low 13th.

Yonny Hernandez was the second-quickest CRT for Paul Bird despite having to abandon his primary bike following a minor fall.

The biggest accident of the session befell Karel Abraham. The Czech rider is being treated for a potential shoulder injury having landed badly in a high-side at Turn 10 early on.

Pos Rider             Team                   Time       Gap     Laps
 1. Marc Marquez      Honda                  1m40.781s           19
 2. Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha          1m41.081s  +0.300s  18
 3. Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                 1m41.261s  +0.480s  18
 4. Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda              1m41.424s  +0.643s  20
 5. Valentino Rossi   Yamaha                 1m41.547s  +0.766s  21
 6. Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda          1m41.571s  +0.790s  18
 7. Dani Pedrosa      Honda                  1m41.590s  +0.809s  19
 8. Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati                 1m41.793s  +1.012s  19
 9. Nicky Hayden      Ducati                 1m41.830s  +1.049s  20
10. Bradley Smith     Tech 3 Yamaha          1m42.405s  +1.624s  21
11. Ben Spies         Pramac Ducati          1m42.507s  +1.726s  18
12. Andrea Iannone    Pramac Ducati          1m42.745s  +1.964s  19
13. Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia          1m42.866s  +2.085s  14
14. Yonny Hernandez   PBM Aprilia            1m43.088s  +2.307s  11
15. Colin Edwards     Forward FTR-Kawasaki   1m43.570s  +2.789s  17
16. Karel Abraham     Cardion Aprilia        1m44.009s  +3.228s   5
17. Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia          1m44.125s  +3.344s  18
18. Claudio Corti     Forward FTR-Kawasaki   1m44.316s  +3.535s  19
19. Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Suter-BMW         1m44.395s  +3.614s  22
20. Hiroshi Aoyama    Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   1m44.606s  +3.825s  17
21. Hector Barbera    Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   1m44.698s  +3.917s  18
22. Lukas Pesek       Ioda-Suter-BMW         1m45.379s  +4.598s  19
23. Bryan Staring     Gresini FTR-Honda      1m45.527s  +4.746s  20
24. Michael Laverty   PBM-Aprilia            1m45.688s  +4.907s  18
25. Blake Young       Attack APR-Kawasaki    1m47.770s  +6.989s  15

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