2019 MotoGP Round 16
Motegi MotoGP FP1
It was a Yamaha 1-2-3 on Friday afternoon at Motegi as the opening practice session for this 16th round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship got underway in fine conditions.
Maverick Vinales the outright pace-setter over the SRT Petronas pairing of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli. Valentino Rossi was 12th but less than half-a-second off third ranked Morbidelli.
Marc Marquez already looks to have strong race pace without requiring any fresh rubber to set a competitive time in fourth place ahead of Suzuki team-mates Alex Rins and Joan Mir.
Jack Miller was the leading Ducati in FP1 just ahead of Andrea Dovizioso while Pol Espargaro clinced ninth place for KTM.
Cal Crutchlow was the second quickest Honda in tenth place just ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Vinales’ 1m45.572s was only just outside Jorge Lorenzo’s race lap record on the Yamaha set in 2014. Lorenzo also has the fastest ever recorded lap of the 4.8 km circuit with his stunning 1m43.790 during practice in 2015. This afternoon Lorenzo set a best of 1m47.438s which was good enough to rank him 19th on the time-sheets.
Remy Gardner had been fifth in the preceding Moto2 practice session which was headed by Brad Binder on the KTM.
Motegi MotoGP FP1 Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1m45.572 |
| 2 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | +0.258 |
| 3 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | +0.411 |
| 4 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | +0.463 |
| 5 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | +0.493 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | +0.553 |
| 7 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | +0.625 |
| 8 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | +0.634 |
| 9 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | +0.643 |
| 10 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | +0.717 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | +0.842 |
| 12 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +0.848 |
| 13 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +0.963 |
| 14 | Andrea IANNONE | Aprilia | +1.173 |
| 15 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | +1.191 |
| 16 | Mika KALLIO | KTM | +1.326 |
| 17 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +1.370 |
| 18 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | +1.755 |
| 19 | Jorge LORENZO | Honda | +1.866 |
| 20 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | +1.924 |
| 21 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | +2.181 |
| 22 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | +2.525 |
| 23 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | KTM | +2.786 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 325 |
| 2 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | ITA | 215 |
| 3 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | SPA | 167 |
| 4 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | SPA | 163 |
| 5 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | ITA | 162 |
| 6 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 145 |
| 7 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | FRA | 143 |
| 8 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | AUS | 119 |
| 9 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | GBR | 102 |
| 10 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | ITA | 90 |
| 11 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | SPA | 80 |
| 12 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | JPN | 74 |
| 13 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | SPA | 58 |
| 14 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | SPA | 46 |
| 15 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | ITA | 34 |
| 16 | Andrea IANNONE | Aprilia | ITA | 33 |
| 17 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 29 |
| 18 | Johann ZARCO | KTM | FRA | 27 |
| 19 | Jorge LORENZO | Honda | SPA | 23 |
| 20 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | SPA | 18 |
| 21 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 16 |
| 22 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 9 |
| 23 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | FRA | 7 |
| 24 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | KTM | MAL | 7 |
| 25 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | CZE | 5 |
Moto2/3 FP1 Times
Source: MCNews.com.au