MotoGP Indonesian GP: Martin heads Aprilia duo in first practice

Martin set a time of 1m31.811s on his Pramac Ducati with just 40 seconds left on the clock, taking the top spot by 0.102s from long-time pacesetter Vinales.

Vinales held the top spot for almost the entire 45-minute session at the Mandalika circuit and managed to find over a tenth on his final effort, but ultimately finished second ahead of his team-mate Espargaro.

At the start of the session, both Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez enjoyed brief stints at the front, before Vinales stamped his authority with a time of 1m33.200s, becoming the first rider to better the 1m33.499s benchmark from the equivalent session last year.

Vinales progressively improved his time over the remainder of the session, setting a 1m32.651s lap five minutes later before finding well half a second when he returned on track in the final 20 minutes.

This time of 1m32.039s appeared good enough as the session reached its end, until Martin managed to dip into the 1m31s bracket to jump from sixth to first.

Vinales responded with a 1m31.913s but fell short of usurping Martin's time, as the Pramac rider started the Indonesian GP weekend on a perfect note.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Espargaro ended up third with a time of 1m32.347s, while Franco Morbidelli was the top Yamaha rider in fourth after improving late on to a 1m32.541s.

VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi, returning to the bike just five days after a surgery to his collarbone, ended up fifth-fastest on last year’s Ducati, edging out championship leader Francesco Bagnaia on the factory Desmosedici by 0.018s.

Bezzecchi had just set the fastest time in the second sector when he crashed heavily at Turn 11, ending the session in the gravel.

The factory KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder finished seventh and eighth, the two separated by 0.022s, while Ducati’s Enea Bastianini was an impressive ninth in his first grand prix weekend appearance since Barcelona.

VR46’s Luca Marini, another rider making a return from injury, finished 10th with a time that was exactly a second slower than pacesetter Martin.

Several top riders failed to find a place inside the top 10, including Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo who was only 12th with a time of 1m32.868s, and Repsol Honda duo Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, who were classified 14th and 18th respectively.

Marquez had a brief moment at Turn 15 with 20 minutes to go as he finished 1.082s off the pace, but he was the still second-fastest Honda rider behind Takaaki Nakagami in 13th.

Oliveira, who has been linked with Marquez’s Honda seat for 2024, suffered an early fall at Turn 11, while Alex Marquez - another rider returning from injury - crashed late on at Turn 1 on his Gresini Ducati and could only finish 20th among 22 riders.

Indonesian GP - FP1 results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	21	1'31.811		168.999	313
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	21	+0.102	0.102	168.811	309
3	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	20	+0.536	0.434	168.018	311
4	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21		Yamaha	22	+0.730	0.194	167.666	308
5	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	18	+0.741	0.011	167.646	307
6	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	20	+0.759	0.018	167.613	310
7	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	21	+0.835	0.076	167.476	312
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	17	+0.857	0.022	167.436	311
9	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	19	+0.952	0.095	167.264	306
10	L. Marini Team VR46	10		Ducati	19	+1.000	0.048	167.178	306
11	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49		Ducati	20	+1.040	0.040	167.106	305
12	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	19	+1.057	0.017	167.075	310
13	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	20	+1.067	0.010	167.057	308
14	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93		Honda	22	+1.082	0.015	167.030	311
15	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5		Ducati	19	+1.290	0.208	166.657	310
16	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	20	+1.328	0.038	166.589	307
17	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25		Aprilia	19	+1.437	0.109	166.394	306
18	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	19	+1.620	0.183	166.069	311
19	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88		Aprilia	15	+1.636	0.016	166.040	308
20	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	13	+1.745	0.109	165.847	309
21	A. Rins Team LCR	42		Honda	18	+1.849	0.104	165.663	305
22	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44		KTM	18	+2.736	0.887	164.108	307
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