Marc Marquez began the Aragon MotoGP weekend on top as he dominated FP1, posting a time over a second faster than anyone else.
The Honda man banged in a succession of seven fast laps early in the session, six of which were faster than any other rider could manage, and held the top spot for most of the session with a 1:48.487.
He wasn’t finished though as he bolted on some new soft compound tyres in the closing minutes of the session, immediately shaving nearly 1.5 seconds from his time to post a 1:47.030, before improving again on his next tour to lower his benchmark to a 1:46.869.
Marquez’s incredible effort was just two-tenths away from the Aragon MotoGP lap record, and 1.617 faster than second placed Maverick Vinales’ Yamaha.
Fabio Quartararo secured the third quickest time- albeit just over two seconds away from Marquez- ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller on their Ducati GP19’s.
Joan Mir was an impressive sixth and leading Suzuki’s charge in the opening practice session as team-mate Alex Rins was only twelfth after suffering issues with his primary GSX-RR early in the session, pulling off at Turn 5 and having to be pushed back to the pits.
Danilo Petrucci was seventh fastest ahead of Pol Espargaro’s KTM, with Franco Morbidelli and Takaaki Nakagami’s LCR Honda rounding out the top ten.
Mika Kallio- who replaces the ousted Johann Zarco at the factory KTM squad for the rest of the season starting this weekend- managed the 19th fastest time just behind a struggling Valentino Rossi, who lies down in 17th ahead of FP2 later this afternoon.
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