A toasty (at least by Silverstone standards) twenty-four degrees welcomed the MotoGP class in Misano, the riders using the session to get used to the new construction of the front tyres brought by Michelin.
Very close times at the top saw homeboy/man Valentino Rossi take a popular late lead of the session, a tenth ahead of another Yamaha – a top two that seems predictable but what is less predictable is the name of that second Yamaha rider: Pol Espargaro. The Spaniard had a fantastic start to his weekend, constantly challenging at the top of the timesheets and leading several times.
Initial questions about the Suzuki’s ability to handle the heat seem to have found an answer, with Silverstone victor Maverick Viñales in third position, although his teammate ended up just outside of the top ten.
Marc Marquez had a Marc Marquez session: always towards the top of the timesheets but also literally came to a halt in the middle of turn ten, after tucking the front and sliding off gently, the Spaniard remounting to come back to the pits. The final run grabbed him fourth spot, some two tenths behind Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo kept real close in fifth spot, five hundreds of a second down on Marquez and only one hundredth ahead of Dani Pedrosa, the Honda rider even enjoying some time at the top in a sunny (literally and metaphorically) start to his weekend.
The Ducatis had taken an early lead with Andrea Dovizioso and Michele Pirro, the two eventually finishing seventh and fourteenth, while Andrea Iannone suffered a fast crash in turn thirteen, only having completed four laps and missing the rest of the session.
With Lorenzo as a tour guide, Hector Barbera made it into the top eight, followed by Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding, the top ten covered by only half a second.
The combination of new tyres and new tarmac saw several fast crashes not only for Iannone but also Laverty, Petrucci and Rabat, with an unusual number of cancelled lap times for track limits infringements.
Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
| 1 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'33.451 | ||
| 2 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | Yamaha | 1'33.587 | 0.136 | 0.136 |
| 3 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Suzuki | 1'33.713 | 0.262 | 0.126 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1'33.729 | 0.278 | 0.016 |
| 5 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | 1'33.774 | 0.323 | 0.045 |
| 6 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'33.786 | 0.335 | 0.012 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1'33.863 | 0.412 | 0.077 |
| 8 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'33.882 | 0.431 | 0.019 |
| 9 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 1'33.920 | 0.469 | 0.038 |
| 10 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'34.034 | 0.583 | 0.114 |
| 11 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Suzuki | 1'34.072 | 0.621 | 0.038 |
| 12 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Aprilia | 1'34.126 | 0.675 | 0.054 |
| 13 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Honda | 1'34.143 | 0.692 | 0.017 |
| 14 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | 1'34.234 | 0.783 | 0.091 |
| 15 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'34.412 | 0.961 | 0.178 |
| 16 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Aprilia | 1'34.496 | 1.045 | 0.084 |
| 17 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati | 1'34.699 | 1.248 | 0.203 |
| 18 | 22 | Alex LOWES | Yamaha | 1'34.923 | 1.472 | 0.224 |
| 19 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Ducati | 1'34.925 | 1.474 | 0.002 |
| 20 | 50 | Eugene LAVERTY | Ducati | 1'35.280 | 1.829 | 0.355 |
| 21 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'35.302 | 1.851 | 0.022 |
| 22 | 12 | Javier FORES | Ducati | 1'37.090 | 3.639 | 1.788 |
Comments
Zara, enjoying your unbridled
Zara, enjoying your unbridled play with expressing track events. Much appreciated. The Barbera tour guide bit was fun, enjoying how much you capture with how few words. Very readable flow as well.
Keep up the great work.
Fores is out there? Huh! Rabat must be pleased to have company.
P.Espargaro - keep it going buddy, great to see you excelling so soon after a big spill.
Suzuki and Vinales - the electronics may actually be coming together for the garage right now. I expect a leap forward for them in warmer conditions, perhaps here and now. So happy that the Mitsubishi brains have been shelved! I remember talking w Hopkins and Kenny Jr about their electronics ten yrs ago, and both shook their heads and said little. Suzuki was the primary beneficiary of spec electronics.
Cheers Zara!
:)
Pedrosa..
Gotta feel happy for the lad. Hope he wins a race this record-breaking year.
Barbera
Tour guide. :lol3
To run with this crowd, you gotta really really good. But when you have your own symbol on the other team's pit boards (the tricycle is pretty funny), and that's how you're known to the race fans...when are his sponsors gonna take note of what they're being associated with image wise?