Marc Marquez was narrowly fastest as the 2020 MotoGP season belatedly began with opening practice for the first of the two back-to-back Jerez races.
Just 0.088s covered the top three after a frantic end to the session, with the entire field within 1.4s.
World champion Marquez deposed long-time pacesetter Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) with a 1m37.350s that put him temporarily six tenths clear of the field.
But with everyone firing in late flying laps, Marquez’s cushion soon vanished.
Yamaha’s lead runner Maverick Vinales ended the session just 0.024s behind the Honda, though both had threatened to do even faster laps but couldn’t put their best splits together.
Cal Crutchlow had briefly made it a Honda 1-2 before Vinales split him and Marquez. LCR rider Crutchlow was just 0.088s from the top spot.
Four different manufacturers appeared in the top six, with Andrea Dovizioso fourth for Ducati and Joan Mir the leading Suzuki in fifth, followed by Miller and the second Suzuki of Alex Rins.
KTM made an encouraging start – filling out the top 10 places with Pol Espargaro, Tech3’s rookie Iker Lecuona (pictured above) and fellow newcomer Brad Binder on the second factory bike.
Valentino Rossi never featured towards the front and was only 13th, albeit 0.768s from first place.
Fabio Quartararo had to sit out the first 20 minutes of the session as a punishment for breaching MotoGP’s private testing rules with a recent ride on a French Superbike spec Yamaha at Paul Ricard. An appeal against that punishment on Thursday was unsuccessful.
Quartararo still managed 13 laps but was down in 17th.
Aprilia was back in 15th with Aleix Espargaro, whose team-mate – for now – Bradley Smith brought up the rear.
Alex Marquez was only 16th as he began his one-off season on the second factory Honda.
Ducati’s second works bike was way down in 21st with Danilo Petrucci, who had crashed heavily in Wednesday’s test on oil from Espargaro’s Aprilia.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1m37.35s | ||
| 2 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.024s | +0.024s | 1m37.374s |
| 3 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.064s | +0.088s | 1m37.438s |
| 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.033s | +0.121s | 1m37.471s |
| 5 | Joan Mir | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.01s | +0.131s | 1m37.481s |
| 6 | Jack Miller | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.006s | +0.137s | 1m37.487s |
| 7 | Alex Rins | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.082s | +0.219s | 1m37.569s |
| 8 | Pol Espargaró | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.143s | +0.362s | 1m37.712s |
| 9 | Iker Lecuona | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | +0.002s | +0.364s | 1m37.714s |
| 10 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.209s | +0.573s | 1m37.923s |
| 11 | Johann Zarco | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +0.017s | +0.59s | 1m37.94s |
| 12 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.042s | +0.632s | 1m37.982s |
| 13 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.136s | +0.768s | 1m38.118s |
| 14 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.011s | +0.779s | 1m38.129s |
| 15 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.08s | +0.859s | 1m38.209s |
| 16 | Alex Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.003s | +0.862s | 1m38.212s |
| 17 | Fabio Quartararo | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.033s | +0.895s | 1m38.245s |
| 18 | Francesco Bagnaia | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.071s | +0.966s | 1m38.316s |
| 19 | Tito Rabat | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +0.021s | +0.987s | 1m38.337s |
| 20 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | +0.169s | +1.156s | 1m38.506s |
| 21 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.001s | +1.157s | 1m38.507s |
| 22 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.223s | +1.38s | 1m38.73s |
