Jerez, MotoGP, FP1: Honda domination ahead of…Viñales, Dovizioso and Quartararo!

A bit like that of Lorenzo Baldassarri in Moto2, the fall of Marc Márquez in Texas has completely relaunched a championship whose protagonists present themselves this morning on the partially resurfaced track of the Circuito Ángel Nieto in Jerez de la Frontera.

obviously, once discovered the technical cause of this misstep in Austin, we expect a strong reaction from the Hondas in Andalusia, especially since the reigning world champion had already won the event there last year after dominating most of the sessions with the help of Cal Crutchlow.

Of course, the opposition doesn't quite see it that way, starting with a Andrea Dovizioso current leader of the championship, who however has never shone on this track, but also and perhaps above all Valentino Rossi who is counting a lot on this first European event to judge the level of performance of his Yamaha M1.

And how can we not talk aboutAlex Rins, the latest winner, but also a Jack Miller which aims for the place of Danilo Petrucci at Ducati, as well as the 3 other Yamaha riders who are Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo...

We will also note the presence of test pilots Stefan bradl for Honda (carbon coated chassis) and Bradley Smith for Aprilia (stiffer swingarm), while Johann zarco confirms having tried a new chassis during its test at Le Mans.

Conditions are ideal this morning, with pristine skies and temperatures of 21° in the air and 27° on the ground.

Here are the available references, established on the old coating, before this 1-minute FP45:

Jerez MotoGP™	2018 (old bitumen)	2019
FP1	1'39.268 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)	1'37.921 Marc Márquez
FP2	1'38.614 Cal Crutchlow (See here)
FP3	1'37.702 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP4	1'38.444 Andrea Iannone (See here)
Q1	1'38.074 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)
Q2	1'37.653 Cal Crutchlow (See here)
warm up	1'38.687 Marc Márquez (See here)
Course	Marquez, Zarco, Iannone (See here)
All time lap record	1'37.653 Cal Crutchlow (2018)

When the red lights go out, Jorge Lorenzo take advantage of a completely free track ahead Bradley Smith and his Aprilia.

Concerning the tires, a large majority opted for the soft front/medium rear option. Alone Marc Marquez has a hard tire at the rear, while Michelin, lacking testing on the new surface, brought 4 types of front tires and 4 types of rear tires.

Jack Miller establishes the first reference in front of Valentino Rossi at the end of the first flying lap, in 1'41.486.

Very quick to get into action, and already less than a second from the absolute record, Marc Márquez then achieves 1'39.600 then 1'38.450 in the following passages, always in front of a Jack Miller particularly lively this morning.

At the end of the first run, Marc Márquez is 3/10 ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Jack Miller, Jorge Lorenzo, Maverick Vinales, Fabio Quartararo (last driver in the same second), Pol Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli et Alex Rins.

Johann zarco, who tested a new chassis at Le Mans, was then 12th ahead Cal Crutchlow, while Valentino Rossi appears in 17th position.

On resumption, Jorge Lorenzo climbs into 2nd position, Takaaki Nakagami in 6th grade, Andrea Iannone in 8st.

Marc Márquez drives the point home in 1'38.286 while Cal Crutchlow begins to show the tip of its nose in 7th place.

A good quarter of an hour before the end of the session, the opposition Marc Márquez is now led by Danilo Petrucci et Maverick Vinales, which generates the following hierarchy before the final rush: Marc Márquez, Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Viñales, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller, Takaaki Nakagami, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone, Pol Espargaró, Fabio Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli, Álex Rins (last driver in the same second) and Valentino Rossi.

Johann zarco, who we see getting angry in his box, is in 19th place with his new chassis, behind Bradley Smith and in front Aleix Espargaro.

The 2 Red Bull KTM Tech3s then appear in difficulty, in the last 2 places, more than 2 seconds behind the best time.

For final packaging, Alex Rins mounts a hard rear tire, like Marc Márquez. Conversely, Franco Morbidelli opted for a softer, which allowed him to take provisional 2nd place.

Yamaha has a new swingarm wing…

Johann zarco leaves with its new chassis, which allows it to take the best of Pol Espargaro.

3 minutes from the end of the session, the partials start to light up in red, starting with those ofAlex Rins which positions itself 3rd before Jorge Lorenzo does not take provisional pole position in front Marc Márquez, Takaaki Nakagami and…Fabio Quartararo !

But things are changing quickly and Marc Marquez however, restored the situation by breaking the 1'38 mark, already coming very close to the record for the old surface.

In his last turn, Johann zarco fall at fast turn number 11, fortunately not serious.

https://twitter.com/MotoGPCanalPlus/status/1124234984057909248

Finally, Valentino Rossi is undoubtedly the big loser of this first session in Andalusia, while conversely Jorge Lorenzo establishes a nice recovery.

The rookie fabio quartararo, he continues to impress…

FP1 Ranking MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez: 

Classification and photo credit: MotoGP.com