The winner of the first two Grands Prix of the year set off at a good pace on this first day, but a small fall on a wet patch in turn 9 slowed his progress. Quickly returning to the Yamaha stand, he left quickly to set the sixth time.
In the first session, his team advised him not to force himself in the wet, with the weather forecast predicting good weather for Saturday and Sunday. He achieved the tenth performance in 1'52.555, 0.907 behind the first Dani Pedrosa.
Conditions were better in the afternoon, but some traces of humidity still dotted the circuit. Vinales went a little wide under braking into turn 9, slightly outside the dry line, and his front tire slipped on a still slightly wet part of the track. He immediately got up and returned to his stand, before leaving again.
He finished the session in sixth position, with a time of 1'40.379, 0.959 behind Dani Pedrosa, again the fastest. It wasn't ideal for Maverick, but he ranked as the best Yamaha rider, Valentino Rossi being twelfth, Jonas Folger thirteenth and John Zarco fifteenth.
According to Maverick, “ I'm doing well. I went a little off course and there were some wet spots. As I told the team, I didn't have a chance to get the bike back, so I crashed. Anyway, after leaving the pit lane, I felt good with the bike.
“We still need to improve in some areas, but overall I'm quite happy. Finally for tomorrow, we have to do a good FP3 to go directly to Q2, so we still have to work. »
“I tried the aerodynamic fairing, but we still have to try it again tomorrow, because today the track was 50/50 and it was difficult to understand if it was better or not. »
For the Team Director Massimo Meregalli, “There was rain forecast for today and it played a role in FP1 and FP2. The track conditions were very tricky in the morning, so we tried not to take any risks, especially as we hope that tomorrow and Sunday will be dry. We did our best to work on the rain settings, which still need to be improved on this year's bike.
“In the afternoon there were a lot of wet marks on the track and unfortunately Maverick hit one in turn 9 and lost the front. Fortunately, he was not injured and was subsequently able to improve his time. We have work to do on both sides of the pits for tomorrow's FP3 and we expect the track conditions to improve, allowing us to exploit our bike's strongest points. »
Ranking of the first day of free practice:
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 39.420s
2. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 39.964s +0.544s
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 40.045s +0.625s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.291s +0.871s
5. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.378s +0.958s
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.379s +0.959s
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.392s +0.972s
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.428s +1.008s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 40.479s +1.059s
10. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 40.573s +1.153s
11. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.639s +1.219s
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.698s +1.278s
13. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 40.773s +1.353s
14. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.915s +1.495s
15. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 41.019s +1.599s
16. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 41.165s +1.745s
17. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 41.165s +1.745s
18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 41.432s +2.012s
19. Takuya Tsuda JPN Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 41.887s +2.467s
20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 41.905s +2.485s
21. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 41.909s +2.489s
22. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 42.515s +3.095s
23. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 42.630s +3.210s
