Motegi MotoGP: Yamaha's Lorenzo fastest in first practice

Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo led Ducati rider Andrea Iannone in first practice for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi

Lorenzo and team-mate Valentino Rossi were the only riders to sit at the top of the times during the session, with Rossi the first to set a representative lap, a 1m46.265s.

Lorenzo, who suffered a shoulder sprain in a mini-bike crash last weekend, improved to 1m45.654s shortly afterwards.

While that would have been good enough to top the session, he went faster again on two occasions inside the final 10 minutes, eventually setting a time of 1m45.432s on his last lap.

Iannone improved late to split the Yamaha pair, 0.395 seconds behind Lorenzo, with championship leader Rossi third, a further 0.017s adrift.

Tech 3 rider Bradley Smith jumped up to fourth after the chequered flag to make it three Yamahas inside the top four, ahead of Dani Pedrosa on the lead Honda.

Andrea Dovizioso was sixth, from reigning world champion Marc Marquez, who is nursing an injured left hand for the second time this season.

In a tight pack, just 0.141s covers Iannone in second and Honda's Marquez in seventh.

Brothers Aleix and Pol Espargaro were eighth and ninth, ahead of Stefan Bradl, who crashed his Gresini-run Aprillia at Turn 11 with 90 seconds remaining.

In Suzuki's first home MotoGP event since 2011, Aleix Espargaro's team-mate Maverick Vinales was 13th, having run wide at Turn 3 late in the session.

Other than Bradl, Jack Miller was the only other rider to fall, at Turn 10, on his way to 22nd.

PRACTICE ONE TMES:

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m45.432s - 15
2 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1m45.827s 0.395s 18
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m45.844s 0.412s 19
4 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m45.888s 0.456s 19
5 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m45.896s 0.464s 17
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m45.947s 0.515s 17
7 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m45.965s 0.533s 17
8 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1m46.234s 0.802s 17
9 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m46.323s 0.891s 18
10 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m46.371s 0.939s 16
11 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m46.551s 1.119s 15
12 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1m46.699s 1.267s 21
13 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1m46.765s 1.333s 17
14 Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing Ducati 1m47.073s 1.641s 16
15 Takumi Takahashi Honda Honda 1m47.079s 1.647s 18
16 Scott Redding Marc VDS Honda 1m47.171s 1.739s 18
17 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m47.181s 1.749s 18
18 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Yamaha 1m47.184s 1.752s 18
19 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m47.304s 1.872s 16
20 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 1m47.364s 1.932s 18
21 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Ducati 1m47.503s 2.071s 16
22 Jack Miller LCR Honda 1m47.539s 2.107s 16
23 Toni Elias Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m47.626s 2.194s 17
24 Loris Baz Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m48.083s 2.651s 18
25 Eugene Laverty Aspar Honda 1m48.625s 3.193s 18
26 Alex de Angelis IodaRacing Project ART/Aprilia 1m49.277s 3.845s 17
27 Kosuke Akiyoshi AB Motoracing Honda 1m49.846s 4.414s 15


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