Barcelona MotoGP: Marquez leads Quartararo in FP1

Honda rider Marquez set the early pace, returning to top spot late to see out the session as the reference with a best effort of 1m40.692s.

A 1m41.221s from the championship leader put him on top as the 45-minute session began, though he was soon deposed by the Petronas SRT Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli.

The pair traded session-best laps over the next few minutes, with Marquez gaining the upper hand with a 1m40.915s.

Maverick Vinales put Marquez's time under threat in the final 17 minutes, the works Yamaha rider just 0.074s adrift with his effort, before edging ahead with a 1m40.872s.

This stood as the benchmark until the closing six minutes, when Marquez unusually returned to circuit with fresh soft front and rear slicks fitted to his RC213V, on which he deposed Vinales with a 1m40.833s.

Improving by 0.020s on his follow-up lap, his final effort of 1m40.692s cemented the Honda rider top spot in FP1.

Fabio Quartararo, fresh from arm-pump surgery, proved Marquez's closest challenger 0.111s behind in second, though looked set to go top on his SRT M1 before getting held up by Aprilia wildcard Bradley Smith late on his final lap.

Vinales was shuffled back to third as a result, with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso and LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami a further 0.010s behind to complete the top five.

Jack Miller was sixth on the Pramac Ducati, while Alex Rins shadowed him on the Suzuki. Petronas SRT rider Franco Morbidelli, his Yamaha stablemate Valentino Rossi and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) filled out the remaining places inside the top 10.

Petrucci, who looks set to secure a 2020 deal with Ducati in the coming days, was 0.932s adrift of Marquez's best in 18th in a low-key first session in Barcelona for MotoGP's newest race winner.

Jorge Lorenzo headed him by 0.018s, with the Honda rider seeking for more comfort on his Honda fitted with new ergonomic updates first tried in a trip to the marque's factory in Japan following the Italian Grand Prix.

Smith was 22nd as he begins his third wildcard weekend for Aprilia, with Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli trailing him in 23rd.

Session results

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	20	1'40.692
2	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	20	1'40.803	0.111
3	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	22	1'40.872	0.180
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	17	1'41.030	0.338
5	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	20	1'41.040	0.348
6	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	18	1'41.049	0.357
7	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	19	1'41.142	0.450
8	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	21	1'41.160	0.468
9	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	20	1'41.190	0.498
10	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	17	1'41.213	0.521
11	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	19	1'41.243	0.551
12	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	21	1'41.355	0.663
13	5	Johann Zarco	KTM	18	1'41.390	0.698
14	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	19	1'41.410	0.718
15	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	19	1'41.530	0.838
16	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	22	1'41.603	0.911
17	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	16	1'41.621	0.929
18	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	18	1'41.624	0.932
19	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	19	1'41.825	1.133
20	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	20	1'41.920	1.228
21	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	18	1'41.972	1.280
22	38	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	17	1'42.168	1.476
23	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	17	1'42.363	1.671
24	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	18	1'42.448	1.756
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