2022 Mandalika MotoGP FP1 Result: Pol Espargaro On A Roll

MotoGP’s return to Indonesia was greeted with rain on Friday morning but the track sported a nice dry line by the time the premier class joined the fun and there were frequent improvements on the timesheets throughout the session. With quickly improving track conditions, no one managed to hold onto top spot for too long until a bit of a lull in track action with 15 minutes remaining, when Pol Espargaro sat pretty at the top of the pile. Some rays of sunshine broke through the cloud cover for the final attack on the timesheets and it helped take the battle for early glory up to the chequered flag, when despite strong competition, the younger Espargaro reclaimed top spot.

Spurred on by his teammate’s strong weekend last time around, Miguel Oliveira came back strong in Indonesia, only four hundredths of a second behind the leader. Marc Marquez was not too keen to experiment in the changing conditions early on, but the Spaniard soon challenged intermittently for top spot and eventually settled for third, only seven hundredths of a second behind his leading teammate. Franco Morbidelli led Yamaha’s charge in FP1, the Italian fourth and four tenths off the lead, while early session leader Johann Zarco dropped to fifth.

Aleix Espargaro and Brad Binder continued their impressive run from Qatar with a top 7 in the initial stages of round two, while fresh victor Enea Bastianini made a late jump into eighth position. Pecco Bagnaia also made a slow start in FP1, spending much of the session at the bottom of the top 20 before climbing into ninth place. Joan Mir closed the top 10 as the lead Suzuki, while teammate Alex Rins was down in 17th. Jack Miller, Andrea Dovizioso and top rookie Raul Fernandez missed out on the top 10, finishing one second off top spot, while reigning champion Fabio Quartararo didn’t seem to enjoy himself any more than in Qatar judging by his 16th place in FP1.

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