Luca Marini tops a dry Free Practice One. A strong start for the factory Honda man could still not mean much for the races. With the rest of the weekend looking wet, this morning’s session is important to get a good result in Practice this afternoon and get through to Q2 tomorrow.
Honda Fastest
Honda had a strong start to the session with all four bikes sitting in the top eight at the beginning of the session. The circuit has a stop-and-start nature, clearly favouring the Japanese manufacturer.
Luca Marini looked strongest of them all and kept his speed throughout the session, finishing top, with home favourite Johann Zarco close behind in third. Joan Mir had a mixed session, being up near the top for most of the session, but came in 11th when the chequered flag came out.
The Ducatis are all over the place
Ducati had a very mixed session, with both factory bikes and Fabio Di Gianantonio high up the order. As the session went on, the only rider who seemed to be able to keep their pace was Di Gianantonio, who finished P4.
Last race winner Álex Márquez had a quiet session, slowly chipping away at his setting, making it to P7, with his brother Marc Márquez in ninth. The rest of the bikes were outside of the top 10.
A session of two halves for KTM
KTM had a very weird session overall. The first half saw only Pedro Acosta able to show his usual speed. However, as the session went on, Enea Bastianini showed pace, going second for a while.
Eventually, he levelled out in 12th. It was the opposite for Brad Binder, who had a very slow start to the season but found speed right at the end to finish 10th. Maverick Viñales is still out with a shoulder injury, being replaced this weekend by Jonas Folger.
Trackhouse outperform the factory Aprilias
The early session was not looking good for Aprilia, with no bike in the top 10. The bike has been the best overall package so far this year. Jorge Martin was losing some aero wings from his bike at the beginning and the end of the session.
By the end of the session, both Trackhouse Racing bikes were inside the top 10, Raúl Fernández in fifth, and Ai Ogura in eighth. Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi finished 14th, just one spot ahead of Martin.
Yamaha show some positives
While the start of the session looked like the same old story for Yamaha, their session got better as time went on. Fabio Quartararo had a good start to the practice but couldn’t seem to keep the pace improving, finishing the session 18th. It was his teammate Álex Rins who led the Yamaha charge, finishing in sixth.
What to look for this Afternoon
This afternoon’s practice session is important for qualifying tomorrow, as the weather is set to change both then and Sunday. With how strong the Honda has been this morning, they will be hoping for a good chance later on.
Aprilia will be trying to find the pace of their sister team, Trackhouse.