Argentina GP: Marquez leads Miller in first practice

Marquez was the first rider to dip into the 1m40s at the Termas de Rio Hondo track, and early on in the 45-minute session he enjoyed a one-second buffer over the opposition.

That was eroded in the latter stages, but the Honda rider was always able to stay a step ahead of his rivals, setting two times good enough to top the session.

A 1m39.885s put him just under three tenths ahead of Pramac Ducati rider Miller, before a 1m39.827s at the chequered flag left him 0.353s in the clear.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) briefly went second-quickest in the final five minutes but was beaten to the runner-up spot by Miller by just 0.035s.

Best of the Yamahas was Petronas SRT rider Franco Morbidelli, 0.492s off the pace in fourth, while Aprilia's Andrea Iannone and KTM's Johann Zarco both posted times within six tenths of Marquez to complete the top six.

Qatar winner Andrea Dovizioso was seventh on the best of the works Ducatis, followed by Fabio Quartararo (Petronas), top Suzuki man Alex Rins and factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi, who completed the top 10 with a time exactly one second slower than Marquez.

Jorge Lorenzo had a low-key start to the Termas weekend with 14th place in FP1, 1.513s adrift, as he recovers from injuries sustained earlier this month in Qatar.

Maverick Vinales likewise suffered an indifferent session, albeit having said he would use it trying to practice overtaking rivals rather than focussing on outright pace.

Vinales ended the session in 18th, 0.830s behind works Yamaha teammate Rossi.

Danilo Petrucci was one of two riders to crash at Turn 1 - the other being Suzuki's Joan Mir - and consequently ended up down in 20th, ahead of only Pramac's Francesco Bagnaia and Tech 3 KTM rider Hafizh Syahrin.

Practice times:

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'39.827
2	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'40.180	0.353
3	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'40.215	0.388
4	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'40.319	0.492
5	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	1'40.366	0.539
6	5	Johann Zarco	KTM	1'40.387	0.560
7	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'40.595	0.768
8	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'40.676	0.849
9	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'40.821	0.994
10	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'40.827	1.000
11	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'40.857	1.030
12	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'41.066	1.239
13	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'41.303	1.476
14	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	1'41.340	1.513
15	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	1'41.509	1.682
16	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'41.513	1.686
17	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'41.641	1.814
18	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'41.657	1.830
19	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'41.692	1.865
20	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'41.768	1.941
21	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'41.875	2.048
22	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	1'42.679	2.852