Franco Morbidelli struck as time expired in the second practice on Friday before the Qatar MotoGP to edge the duelling factory Ducatis of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.
Championship leader Alex Marquez was fifth while Jorge Martin, on his first race-weekend ride for Aprilia, was a careful 20th.
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Morbidelli finished in 1min 50sec on his VR46 Ducati. Fellow Italian Bagnaia was 0.145sec behind with Marc Marquez at 0.167sec. Martin was 1.568 slower.
Morbidelli’s team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth and championship leader Alex Marquez was fifth on his Gresini Ducati.
Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, on a Yamaha, was the fastest non-Ducati in sixth. Both Bagnaia and Marquez, sure of a top ten time and direct pass to Saturday’s second qualifying round, opted not to change tyres during the final session. That meant they were effectively spectators as other riders launched late time attacks, but they will have more tyre options over the weekend when championship points are at stake.
Bagnaia, the double-world champion, has struggled to keep pace with his new stablemate this season. Marc Marquez had won all three sprints and two Sunday grand prix until he crashed while leading the last race, the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Bagnaia pounced to win in Austin, while Alex Marquez finished second once again to move to the top of the standings. Eight points separate the three riders.
On Friday morning, Marc Marquez dominated, more than half a second ahead of Di Giannantonio.
At the back of the field, reigning champion Martin trailed in 20th out of 22 bikes, 1.824 seconds slower.
The Spaniard, who switched teams in the summer, broke his right hand and foot in a crash during pre-season testing in Malaysia in February and then broke his left hand as he prepared to return. He missed the first three races of the season.
“We were all a bit nervous about this debut,” Massimo Rivola, the Aprilia sports director, told French broadcaster Canal+ after the first session.
“At the end it was OK, I’m happy. It was a first run at the end it was not bad. I saw him quite easy on the bike. Quite comfortable on the bike.”
Practice times (top 10 go straight into second qualifying session on Saturday):
1. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 1min 50.830sec (Q),
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) at 0.145sec (Q),
3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati) 0.167 (Q),
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.299 (Q),
5. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.406 (Q),
6. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.463 (Q)z,
7. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) 0.561 (Q),
8. Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM-Tech3) 0.625 (Q),
9. Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.785 (Q),
10. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 0.806 (Q),
11. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 0.836,
12. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 0.945,
13. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 0.954,
14. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 1.003,
15. Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 1.118,
16. Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM-Tech3) 1.175,
17. Jack Miller (AUS/Yamaha-Pramac) 1.194,
18. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 1.304,
19. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia) 1.350,
20. Jorge Martin (ESP/Aprilia) 1.568,
21. Augusto Fernandez (ESP/Yamaha-Pramac) 1.585,
22. Somkiat Chantra (THA/Honda-LCR) 2.180 pb/iwd Yamaha MotorCanal+
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