Whether in the morning in the wet or in the afternoon in the dry, Dani superbly dominated both free practice sessions. He set the best time in FP2 with a soft rear tire, while his teammate Marc Marquez had to settle for fourteenth, having chosen a medium.
If Pedrosa managed the best time in the first session, it was with a minimum advantage of 0.002 over Cal Crutchlow, while the Australian Jack Miller completed the Honda trifecta with third place at 0.159, ahead of the first Ducati ridden by Andrea Dovizioso. Marc Marquez was not far away in fifth position, completing the RC213V's good performance in the wet.
Dani's advantage was significantly greater in the dry afternoon, 0.544 ahead Jack Miller and 0.625 ahead Cal Crutchlow. Once again, Honda achieved an impressive group shot, except for Marc Marquez fourteenth.
According to Dani Pedrosa, “ Today we had a good day, positive on both wet and dry track. We tried to do as much work as possible, even though the track conditions changed a lot during the day.
“In the afternoon there were still wet spots here and there, but I tried to be early because it was important to find a good rhythm. We used two different setups and managed to try both, so tomorrow we will be more focused on choosing the best tires.
“Of course the air and track temperatures will rise a lot, so tomorrow we will focus on that and further improve the feeling on the bike, although it was already very good today. »
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 Vinales 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
