#GermanGP MotoGP FP1: Dovizioso wants to remain the boss! Rossi down!

This ninth Grand Prix 2017 will have the difficult role of giving us some indications on the second part of the season which will take place after the summer break.

On a recently re-surfaced circuit, on which no one has any reference but which is usually favorable to Honda, the main interest of this German Grand Prix will be to confirm, or not, the return of Yamaha to the forefront with a motorcycle versatile, after the victory for Valentino Rossi at Assen.

Indeed, with five winners during the first half-season, and now four drivers grouped in just 11 points in the championship, no clear trend has emerged with a certain consistency at the start of the season, and there are still around ten drivers who can claim to end the year in style.

This morning, the sky is gray and cloudy, but the track remains dry while the worst is expected for tomorrow.

With an extended session of 10 minutes to get the feel of the new surface, the drivers will be able to use their time to choose from the four tires offered by Michelin for the dry, but will undoubtedly keep in mind that this is perhaps from the only dry day: being in the top 10 at the end of this day could be decisive for Sunday.

The wind is present and it is 16° in the air and 16° on the ground when this first MotoGP session of the weekend begins, with the following table as only indicative references:

#GermanGP MotoGP	2016	2017
FP1	1'23.702 Andrea Iannone (see here)
FP2	1'22.161 Maverick Vinales (see here)
FP3	1'21.552 Marc Marquez (see here)
FP4	1'22.005 Andrea Iannone (see here)
Q1	1'21.712 Danilo Petrucci (see here)
Q2	1'21.160 Marc Marquez (see here)
Warm up	1'33.883 Dani Pedrosa (see here)
Course	Marquez, Crutchlow, Dovizioso (see here)
All time lap record	1'20.336 Marquez 2015

 Most drivers use a soft front tire and medium rear tire.

In just four rounds, Marc Marquez, the big favorite of the weekend, sets a first milestone in 1'22.367, which is already faster than last year's FP1: the tone is set!

Mika Kallio, who is a wild card for KTM, had a very good start to the session, appearing in the top 5 during the first 10 minutes.

At the end of this first warm-up run, the hierarchy is made up of Marquez, Crutchlow, Folger, Aleix Espargaro, Rossi, Petrucci, Lorenzo, Kallio, Zarco and Pedrosa.

On resumption, Valentino Rossi was forced to stop on the circuit, apparently due to a technical problem, his engine appearing to have cut out. The Yamaha rider is doing everything possible to bring his bike back to the box because it is probably the only new chassis he has.

Maverick Vinales, with a hard tire at the rear, took command in 1'22.211, while Tito Rabat falls leaving the gravel trap into which he had made an incursion at turn #8.

Andrea Dovizioso then reminds us that he is the leader of the championship by registering a 1'22.175.

Halfway through the session, Dovizioso, Vinales, Marquez, Crutchlow, Folger, Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro, Redding, Lorenzo, Rossi and Zarco appear in this order in the provisional classification.

A little after, Valentino Rossi who put a hard tire on the rear, repositioned himself in seventh, 3 tenths behind. We must in fact the times are very tight, with no less than nine drivers in just 4 tenths.

At the opposite, Andrea Iannone, who was then in 20th position, crashed violently at the famous turn #11 and destroyed his bike. The Suzuki driver appears shot but fortunately not injured.

Eight minutes from the end of the session, Marc Marquez, also with a hard rear tire, regained command in 1'22.012, a better time than those of the first day of last year.

Maverick Vinales responds by mounting a soft rear tire and manages to keep the five other drivers below the 1'22 mark which are Aleix Espargaro, Álvaro Bautista Marc Márquez, Johann Zarco and Danilo Petrucci.

In extremis, Dani Pedrosa is positioned second but it is ultimately Andrea Dovizioso, with full confidence but also with two soft tires, who took the checkered flag.

Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding end the session by falling at turn #11.

Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net :

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 21.599s [Lap 23/24] 293km/h (Top Speed)
2. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 21.637s +0.038s [23/26] 294km/h
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 21.789s +0.190s [27/28] 294km/h
4. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 21.832s +0.233s [22/25] 290km/h
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 21.840s +0.241s [26/27] 294km/h
6. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 21.898s +0.299s [27/31] 292km/h
7. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 21.973s +0.374s [26/29] 291km/h
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 21.992s +0.393s [21/24] 292km/h
9. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 22.068s +0.469s [21/24] 291km/h
10. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 22.075s +0.476s [24/25] 292km/h
11. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 22.175s +0.576s [24/28] 291km/h
12. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 22.209s +0.610s [23/26] 292km/h
13. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 22.240s +0.641s [23/25] 290km/h
14. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 22.336s +0.737s [26/28] 294km/h
15. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 22.465s +0.866s [24/24] 288km/h
16. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 22.535s +0.936s [15/23] 291km/h
17. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 22.593s +0.994s [23/28] 292km/h
18. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 22.612s +1.013s [20/23] 290km/h
19. alex rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 22.642s +1.043s [27/29] 292km/h
20. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 22.745s +1.146s [23/25] 286km/h
21. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 22.888s +1.289s [24/25] 288km/h
22. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 22.989s +1.390s [18/20] 285km/h
23. Mika Kallio END Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 23.218s +1.619s [22/24] 286km/h
24. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 23.299s +1.700s [20/22] 291km/h

Photo credit : MotoGP.com