Another big hint Marquez is right back on the MotoGP pace

Marc Marquez was able to play down the significance of his Motegi MotoGP pole position a week ago because it came in wet conditions.

But topping opening practice for the Thai Grand Prix at Buriram in a straight fight on a dry track was another emphatic sign that Honda’s talisman is making a very competitive return from what he hopes will be the final surgery in his two-year fitness battle.

Marquez actually kicked off his weekend with a minor crash, running wide onto the painted area beyond the kerb – which was still damp from earlier rain – at the long Turn 3 right-hander and sliding to the ground.

Caught out on his very first flying laps! 😮@marcmarquez93 loses the front after running hot into Turn 3 💥#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 pic.twitter.com/j6Y7Zj54DT

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 30, 2022

Swiftly back upright, Marquez then grabbed the top spot with a 1m30.523s early in the late charge of qualifying-style laps with almost everyone using medium front tyres and soft rears.

That lap deposed Yamaha’s championship leader Fabio Quartararo, who improved again in response but was 0.032 seconds shy of Marquez.

The Buriram circuit was the scene of perhaps the greatest of their 2019 duels during Quartararo’s spectacular rookie season, with Marquez only beating him to the race win with a last-lap move.

With rain a possibility throughout the weekend, teams took the end of practice one very seriously as a chance to potentially book Q2 spots if the next two sessions are wet.

If that’s the case, title contender Aleix Espargaro is going to have to tackle Q1.

He was only 16th fastest as Aprilia started badly, with Maverick Vinales a place further back on its second bike.

But both were only six tenths of the pace in a remarkably close session in which the top four were within 0.098s and the top 10 covered by 0.3s.

Jack Miller was top Ducati in third, thrusting himself right up the order with his last lap.

His title-chasing team-mate Pecco Bagnaia was sixth, having spent the final part of the session seemingly trying to get a tow from VR46 rider Luca Marini, who was fourth quickest.

Alex Rins topped part of the session for Suzuki early on, and looked like he might beat Marquez to first place on his last run before a slower final sector left him fifth.

Seventh-fastest Miguel Oliveira was the only rider other than Marquez to crash, losing his KTM at the last corner early on.

We've seen plenty caught out at Buriram's final corner in previous years ⏪@_moliveira88 is the first in 2022 💨#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 pic.twitter.com/DYTdLjUzo2

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 30, 2022

Quartararo’s struggling Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli made an encouraging start in eighth place.

Yamaha actually looked set for the rare treat of having three bikes in the top 10 after Cal Crutchlow surged to fifth late on for RNF, though he ended up edged back to 11th behind Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin’s Ducatis.

Danilo Petrucci made his MotoGP return as Joan Mir’s Suzuki stand-in by taking 21st, 2.2s off the pace and ahead of RNF Yamaha rider Darryn Binder and LCR Honda’s Taka Nakagami replacement Tetsuta Nagashima.

Practice 1 Results