Motegi MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo beats Marc Marquez in practice one
Jorge Lorenzo denied Marc Marquez the top spot in opening practice for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix at a sunny Motegi
Marquez, who can wrap up the 2014 championship this weekend, had recovered from an early crash to go fastest on a 1m46.004s going into the closing minutes.
But Yamaha rider Lorenzo - fresh from his long-awaited first win of the year at Aragon two weeks ago - produced a 1m45.838s in the last half-minute of the morning to beat his Honda rival by 0.166 seconds.
Marquez's accident happened at the tight Turn 5 right-hander. He appeared to outbrake himself and ran straight on into the gravel before falling.
Andrea Dovizioso put the revised Ducati third, grabbing the position from Pramac Ducati man Yonny Hernandez late on.
Hernandez's lofty position owed something to using the extra-soft tyre and to tucking in behind Marquez for his quick lap.
Valentino Rossi took fifth. The Italian is reporting no ill-effects from being knocked unconscious in his Aragon crash, although he is carrying a minor finger injury from the incident.
Long-time pacesetter Stefan Bradl, who also had a trip into the gravel, ended up sixth.
Pol and Aleix Espargaro sandwiched Dani Pedrosa in seventh and ninth, with Alvaro Bautista completing the top 10.
The field is up to 24 bikes this weekend, with the works Yamaha team running a third entry for its Japanese test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga. He began his MotoGP return with 12th place.
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m45.838s | - |
2 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m46.004s | 0.166s |
3 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m46.072s | 0.234s |
4 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m46.113s | 0.275s |
5 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m46.184s | 0.346s |
6 | Stefan Bradl | LCR | Honda | 1m46.230s | 0.392s |
7 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m46.265s | 0.427s |
8 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m46.334s | 0.496s |
9 | Aleix Espargaro | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m46.404s | 0.566s |
10 | Alvaro Bautista | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m46.636s | 0.798s |
11 | Andrea Iannone | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m46.661s | 0.823s |
12 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m46.973s | 1.135s |
13 | Cal Crutchlow | Ducati | Ducati | 1m47.016s | 1.178s |
14 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m47.110s | 1.272s |
15 | Alex de Angelis | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m47.285s | 1.447s |
16 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m47.335s | 1.497s |
17 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Aspar | Honda | 1m47.514s | 1.676s |
18 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m47.829s | 1.991s |
19 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m47.929s | 2.091s |
20 | Scott Redding | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m48.239s | 2.401s |
21 | Danilo Petrucci | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m48.295s | 2.457s |
22 | Broc Parkes | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m49.723s | 3.885s |
23 | Michael Laverty | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m49.923s | 4.085s |
24 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Avintia/Kawasaki | 1m50.469s | 4.631s |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments