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Rachit Thukral

MotoGP Indonesian GP: Martin heads Aprilia duo in first practice

Martin set a time of 1m31.811s on his Pramac Ducati with just 40 seconds left on the clock, taking the top spot by 0.102s from long-time pacesetter Vinales.

Vinales held the top spot for almost the entire 45-minute session at the Mandalika circuit and managed to find over a tenth on his final effort, but ultimately finished second ahead of his team-mate Espargaro.

At the start of the session, both Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez enjoyed brief stints at the front, before Vinales stamped his authority with a time of 1m33.200s, becoming the first rider to better the 1m33.499s benchmark from the equivalent session last year.

Vinales progressively improved his time over the remainder of the session, setting a 1m32.651s lap five minutes later before finding well half a second when he returned on track in the final 20 minutes.

This time of 1m32.039s appeared good enough as the session reached its end, until Martin managed to dip into the 1m31s bracket to jump from sixth to first.

Vinales responded with a 1m31.913s but fell short of usurping Martin's time, as the Pramac rider started the Indonesian GP weekend on a perfect note.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Espargaro ended up third with a time of 1m32.347s, while Franco Morbidelli was the top Yamaha rider in fourth after improving late on to a 1m32.541s.

VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi, returning to the bike just five days after a surgery to his collarbone, ended up fifth-fastest on last year’s Ducati, edging out championship leader Francesco Bagnaia on the factory Desmosedici by 0.018s.

Bezzecchi had just set the fastest time in the second sector when he crashed heavily at Turn 11, ending the session in the gravel.

The factory KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder finished seventh and eighth, the two separated by 0.022s, while Ducati’s Enea Bastianini was an impressive ninth in his first grand prix weekend appearance since Barcelona.

VR46’s Luca Marini, another rider making a return from injury, finished 10th with a time that was exactly a second slower than pacesetter Martin.

Several top riders failed to find a place inside the top 10, including Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo who was only 12th with a time of 1m32.868s, and Repsol Honda duo Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, who were classified 14th and 18th respectively.

Marquez had a brief moment at Turn 15 with 20 minutes to go as he finished 1.082s off the pace, but he was the still second-fastest Honda rider behind Takaaki Nakagami in 13th.

Oliveira, who has been linked with Marquez’s Honda seat for 2024, suffered an early fall at Turn 11, while Alex Marquez - another rider returning from injury - crashed late on at Turn 1 on his Gresini Ducati and could only finish 20th among 22 riders.

Indonesian GP - FP1 results:

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 21 1'31.811   168.999 313
2 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 21 +0.102 0.102 168.811 309
3 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 20 +0.536 0.434 168.018 311
4 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 22 +0.730 0.194 167.666 308
5 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 18 +0.741 0.011 167.646 307
6 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 20 +0.759 0.018 167.613 310
7 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 21 +0.835 0.076 167.476 312
8 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 17 +0.857 0.022 167.436 311
9 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 19 +0.952 0.095 167.264 306
10 Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 19 +1.000 0.048 167.178 306
11 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 20 +1.040 0.040 167.106 305
12 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 19 +1.057 0.017 167.075 310
13 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 20 +1.067 0.010 167.057 308
14 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 22 +1.082 0.015 167.030 311
15 France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 19 +1.290 0.208 166.657 310
16 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 20 +1.328 0.038 166.589 307
17 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 19 +1.437 0.109 166.394 306
18 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 19 +1.620 0.183 166.069 311
19 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 15 +1.636 0.016 166.040 308
20 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 13 +1.745 0.109 165.847 309
21 Spain A. Rins Team LCR 42 Honda 18 +1.849 0.104 165.663 305
22 Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 18 +2.736 0.887 164.108 307
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