Valencia MotoGP: Marc Marquez pips Jorge Lorenzo in first practice
Marc Marquez beat Jorge Lorenzo to the fastest time in the first MotoGP practice session of the Valencian Grand Prix with a blistering late improvement on his final lap
Yamaha's Lorenzo had led for the majority of the session after the early flurry of changes at the top of the timesheets had settled down.
World champion Marquez was finding the limit straight away as the Spaniard was forced to run wide at Turn 1 after touching the pitlane exit line under braking on a windy day at Valencia.
Aleix Espargaro looked set to go fastest late on before an untidy end to the lap meant he finished in third ahead of Dani Pedrosa.
The Honda rider was visibly fighting his bike throughout the session, regularly wrestling it into the apex at Turn 1.
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi ended the session fifth fastest and the last man to break the 1m31s barrier.
Bradley Smith edged out Andrea Dovizioso and Hector Barbera to take sixth place on the Tech 3 Yamaha, while fellow Briton Cal Crutchlow could only manage P13 at the start of his final weekend with Ducati.
Suzuki marked its return to MotoGP action for the first time since 2011 with a low-key run to P16 with Randy de Puniet.
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m31.296s | - | 19 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m31.489s | 0.193s | 19 |
| 3 | Aleix Espargaro | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m31.640s | 0.344s | 17 |
| 4 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m31.647s | 0.351s | 19 |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m31.767s | 0.471s | 21 |
| 6 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m32.019s | 0.723s | 22 |
| 7 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.071s | 0.775s | 18 |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m32.153s | 0.857s | 20 |
| 9 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m32.155s | 0.859s | 22 |
| 10 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.499s | 1.203s | 18 |
| 11 | Stefan Bradl | LCR | Honda | 1m32.544s | 1.248s | 21 |
| 12 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m32.698s | 1.402s | 15 |
| 13 | Cal Crutchlow | Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.700s | 1.404s | 18 |
| 14 | Alvaro Bautista | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m32.711s | 1.415s | 22 |
| 15 | Andrea Iannone | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m32.837s | 1.541s | 20 |
| 16 | Randy de Puniet | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m33.345s | 2.049s | 19 |
| 17 | Scott Redding | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m33.473s | 2.177s | 19 |
| 18 | Alex de Angelis | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m33.523s | 2.227s | 19 |
| 19 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m33.533s | 2.237s | 20 |
| 20 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Aspar | Honda | 1m33.711s | 2.415s | 20 |
| 21 | Danilo Petrucci | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m33.820s | 2.524s | 23 |
| 22 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m33.974s | 2.678s | 18 |
| 23 | Michael Laverty | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m34.393s | 3.097s | 19 |
| 24 | Broc Parkes | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m35.276s | 3.980s | 15 |
| 25 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Avintia/Kawasaki | 1m35.607s | 4.311s | 17 |
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