Bezzecchi fastest as Marc Marquez splits the Aprilias in Mandalika MotoGP FP1
A late lap by Marc Marquez breaks Aprilia's dominance in opening practice for the Indonesian MotoGP.
Marco Bezzecchi, the man to beat for much of last year’s Indonesian MotoGP weekend, returned to the top during opening practice for this year’s event.
The Italian led an all-Aprilia top three heading into the closing stages, ahead of team-mate and title leader Jorge Martin and last year’s front row qualifier and Sprint podium finisher Raul Fernandez.
However, Ducati’s reigning champion Marc Marquez then leapt forward from eighth, breaking the RS-GP dominance with second place on his penultimate lap.
That put Marquez ahead of title rival Martin and signalled Aprilia won’t have things all their own way despite last year’s speed advantage and “unbeatable” predictions ahead of this year's event.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta demoted Fernandez to fifth, with all the leading riders sticking with a single set of soft front and medium tyres throughout FP1.
However, those are unlikely to be the favoured tyre combination this weekend, and the real form will be clearer after this afternoon’s Practice.
Fabio Quartararo pulled some big stoppies on his way to top Yamaha in eighth, with team-mate Alex Rins enjoying a more promising session than usual in eleventh.
Fernandez’s Trackhouse team-mate Ai Ogura was left all the way down in 21st after a fast accident heavily damaged his RS-GP.
The leading Honda was Johann Zarco in 14th while team-mate Diogo Moreira and defending Mandalika Grand Prix winner Fermin Aldeguer both crashed.
Pecco Bagnaia had a near miss with Toprak Razgatlioglu. The FIM Stewards investigated the incident before ruling no further action.
Bagnaia later had a leg off moment on his own, on the way to 13th.
Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro made his MotoGP return with 22nd, 2.8s from Bezzecchi.
Practice takes place at 3pm local time, 8am UK.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
