Fabio Quartararo began the MotoGP season finale at Valencia on top as he led the first practice session of the weekend ahead of Pramac’s Jack Miller.
Marquez fired himself to the head of the times early on as he posted a 1:31.665 ahead of Miller and Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli.
This is where he remained for the bulk of the opening session, improving later to a 1:31.532 to lead the Yamaha quartet as the session entered the final ten minutes.
Several key players then began to post improvements though, with Miller the first to usurp the world champion’s efforts as he pipped him by just 0.020 to go fastest, with Quartararo managing a time just 0.036 slower to go third.
The Frenchman wasn’t finished though, and banged in a 1:31.455 on his final flyer of the test to jump to the top of the times and ultimately close out the session in the same position, with Miller forced to make do with second quickest ahead of Marquez.
Maverick Vinales was fourth fastest on the lead factory Yamaha after he failed to improve in the closing stages, while Morbidelli rounded out the top five on the second SRT M1.
Joan Mir was a solid sixth and top Suzuki runner ahead of Pol Espargaro’s KTM RC16, with Valentino Rossi ending the session eighth after he crashed out in the closing minutes.
The Italian went down at Turn 4 while pushing for an improvement, costing himself a chance of challenging for a top five position and ending the test in the gravel trap as a result.
Andrea Dovizioso was a long way behind Miller’s GP19 as he managed the ninth best time ahead of the second GSX-RR of Alex Rins, who completed the top ten.
Aleix Espargaro looked good for a solid top ten time during the mid-part of the session, but later faded to 12th on his Aprilia just behind Danilo Petrucci’s Ducati but marginally clear of Johann Zarco on the leading LCR Honda.
Team-mate Cal Crutchlow was only 15th quickest, behind even Michele Pirro who suffered a severe fire with his Ducati.
Pirro-who is making his third wildcard appearance of the year at Valencia- was forced to pull off the circuit early on as the bottom half of his GP19 was engulfed in flames.
He was able to pull up next to several marshals, allowing them put the fire out quickly.
Jorge Lorenzo was 18th fastest as he begins his final MotoGP weekend having announced his retirement yesterday afternoon, while debutant Iker Lecuona impressed by managing a lap just seven-tenths slower than team-mate Hafizh Syahrin in what is his first time ever riding a premier class machine.
