Pol Espargaro led the way at the Mandalika International Circuit as MotoGP made its return to Indonesia for the first time in 25 years.
A greasy circuit welcomed the premier class pilots at the start of the opening free practice session of the weekend, though slicks were quickly the order of the day as times were slashed throughout the 45 minute test as the conditions improved.
With Jack Miller having led the way in the early stages with a 1:40.386s- as the Aussie predictably became the first man to venture out on slicks – the times fell by over seven seconds in the end as the venue continually dried out.
The closing moments of the test resembled a no-holds barred qualifying session as the threat of rain returning for the subsequent sessions loomed overhead, Pol Espargaro eventually denying KTM’s Miguel Oliveira the scratch time on his final flying effort.
The Spaniard fired in a 1:33.499s tour at the death to head Oliveira by a slender 0.044s, with the other factory Honda of Marc Marquez completing the top three.
Franco Morbidelli ended up fourth quickest having at one point looked safe at the head of the standings with over a half-second advantage, the Yamaha rider leading the fastest Ducati representative in the shape of Pramac’s Johann Zarco.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was sixth ahead of the other KTM of Brad Binder, while Qatar Grand Prix victor Enea Bastianini ended up eighth on his Gresini Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia grabbed ninth, while Joan Mir rounded out the top ten for Suzuki just ahead of early leader Miller.
Andrea Dovizioso utilised the soft compound rubber to feature within the top five late on, though the RNF Yamaha man found himself shuffled back to 12th in the closing stages just ahead of fastest rookie Raul Fernandez and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.
Fabio Quartararo elected to focus on running the harder compound Michelin tyres en-route to the 16th best time ahead of Alex Rins on the sister Suzuki GSX-RR.
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