Maverick Vinales decimated his rivals in the opening practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, the Yamaha man lapping 0.550 faster than second placed Fabio Quartararo.
Quartararo looked to be the man in form for the bulk of the 45 minute session, the Petronas SRT racer leading the way around a third of the way through with a 1:33.435, pipping Vinales at that point by just 0.044.
He then extended his advantage to just over two-tenths, before finding another tenth on the subsequent tour to open up a three-and-a-half tenth gap on the rest.
Vinales was not to be denied though, banging in the first sub-33 time of the weekend so far-a 1:32.760- to re-take the top spot, before smashing his own effort on his final circulation by 0.562 to complete the session on a 1:32.198.
Quartararo also improved on his final lap, but came up over half-a-second short of Vinales-albeit still enough for second overall.
Aprilia enjoyed a strong start to its first home race weekend of the season, Aleix Espargaro bagging the third fastest time thanks to a helpful tow from Vinales, while team-mate Bradley Smith completed the top five on the second RS-GP just behind Johann Zarco’s Avintia Ducati.
Joan Mir was Suzuki’s top representative in FP1 with the sixth fastest time, just ahead of Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller.
Cal Crutchlow brushed off the arm pump surgery he underwent just a few days ago to manage the fastest time for Honda in eighth overall just ahead of Pol Espargaro’s KTM-who led the times early on-and the LCR Honda machine of Takaaki Nakagami.
Valentino Rossi had a quiet start to his home event in 11th just ahead of VR46 protege Franco Morbidelli, while Andrea Dovizioso could secure only 14th on the highest-placed factory Ducati, team-mate Danilo Petrucci a lowly 17th in FP1.
Francesco Bagnaia meanwhile made his first appearance on track since fracturing his knee at Brno, the Italian managing 18th on the timesheets as he eased himself back into competition.
| # | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’32.198 | |
| 2 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’32.748 | 0.550 / 0.550 |
| 3 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’32.949 | 0.751 / 0.201 |
| 4 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’33.181 | 0.983 / 0.232 |
| 5 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’33.244 | 1.046 / 0.063 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’33.497 | 1.299 / 0.253 |
| 7 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’33.502 | 1.304 / 0.005 |
| 8 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’33.538 | 1.340 / 0.036 |
| 9 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’33.569 | 1.371 / 0.031 |
| 10 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’33.654 | 1.456 / 0.085 |
| 11 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’33.693 | 1.495 / 0.039 |
| 12 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’33.694 | 1.496 / 0.001 |
| 13 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’33.828 | 1.630 / 0.134 |
| 14 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’33.868 | 1.670 / 0.040 |
| 15 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.921 | 1.723 / 0.053 |
| 16 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’34.040 | 1.842 / 0.119 |
| 17 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’34.101 | 1.903 / 0.061 |
| 18 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’34.154 | 1.956 / 0.053 |
| 19 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’34.323 | 2.125 / 0.169 |
| 20 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’34.553 | 2.355 / 0.230 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’34.619 | 2.421 / 0.066 |
| 22 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’34.645 | 2.447 / 0.026 |
