Best time for Dovizioso – Lorenzo spell / MotoGP SPEEDWEEK

MotoGP

of Günther Wiesinger – 19.10.2018 03:13

Andrea Dovizioso set the fastest time in the first free practice session on the Twin Ring Motegi in MotoGP. But Ducati was also disappointed: Jorge Lorenzo would also miss this Grand Prix.

Before his fall in Aragon, Jorge Lorenzo had reason to hope for a third place behind Marc Márquez and Rossi. But after two dozen, these hopes evaporated. Before the FP1, it was not clear if the star of Ducati could compete for points on Sunday in Motegi / Japan.

In the first free MotoGP training session, two out-of-category drivers left: Katsuyuki Nakasuga (37) for Yamaha, Sylvain Guintoli (36) for Suzuki.

Nakasuga clocked the fastest time in 1: 48.057.
Jorge Lorenzo shook his head after his first lap and returned to the pits, the pain in his left hand seemed to be too serious. Obviously, he even felt pain by removing his left glove.

"It's not just about being able to bear the pain, there's also a risk of further aggravating the injury, before the two Grand Prix of Australia and Malaysia," Jorge said Thursday. .

Franco Morbidelli threw his Marc VDS-Honda after 10 minutes into the hairpin bend 10, while Marc Márquez scored in 1: 46.193 in the front row behind Zarco, Iannone and Dovizioso. 5. Bautista. 6. Rossi. 7. Crutchlow. 8. Nakasuga. 9. Petrucci. 10. Viñales.

"It looked pretty good during the break that followed the GP of Thailand, but when he started to train, the pain got worse." A scan showed that the break was not healing, he said. There was no progress, and of course, Motegi is not the ideal track for such an injury, it seems to be the end of the Motegi Weekend for Jorge, "said Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse's sporting director. .

As a reminder, Lorenzo had crashed into the starting curve of the race in Aragón in a fight against Márquez, then again in Thailand in FP2, apparently after a brake failure.

Lorenzo stayed in Asia after the Buriram GP, but other than swimming, he could not train.

After 22 minutes, Márquez was in first place with a time of 1 minute, 46.1277 and Crutchlow at 0.309 seconds. 3. Zarco. 4. Iannone. 5. Dovizioso. 6. Bautista. 7. Petrucci. 8. Nakasuga. 9. Pedrosa, 10. Rossi. 11. Pol Espargaró (KTM), only 1, 153 seconds back. 12. Miller.

17 minutes before the end, Márquez goes to 1: 46.120, Dovizioso now 0.076 sec, Crutchlow 0.376 sec 4. Zarco. 5. Bautista.

Márquez, World Cup leader and Honda star, climbed to 1: 46.010, bringing Dovi back to 0.186 seconds. Surprise at Red Bull KTM: Pol Espargaró took tenth place just 0.974 seconds from first place.

His teammate next year, Johann Zarco, also made a good performance: he was fifth with a gap of 0.370 seconds, while factory drivers Viñales and Rossi (11th) were slowing down. But ten minutes before the checkered flag, Maverick Viñales was fifth in front of Zarco.

And Viñales, who finished third at Buriram, was not yet out of trouble: he won 1: 46.014 minutes against the Twin Ring, he now misses second place in only 0.004 seconds on Marc Márquez.

Valentino Rossi, who dropped in the 2016 races in Japan and in 2017, has not won here in ten years. He finished 12th behind Miller and Pol Espargaró.

There were six minutes left. Nakasuga was still in 9th place, just 1.1 seconds behind leader Márquez.

But while Bautista crashed into Turn 1, last year's winner, Dovi, clocked a best time of 1: 45.358, but Márquez was now 0.652sec behind and was progressing with new tires . 3. Crutchlow. 4. Viñales. 5. Bautista. 6. Iannone.

And LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow clocked 1: 45.784 minutes in the next lap, while Márquez improved to 1: 45.520. He was now 0.162 seconds behind position 1. Rossi had returned to position 15. But in the end, VR46 was still ahead of the ninth Stelel.

Result FP1
1. Dovizioso 145.358 min
2. Crutchlow, + 0.105 sec
3. Zarco, + .125
4. Márquez, +0.140
5. Viñales, +0.282
6. Iannone, +672
7. Bautista, +0.852
8. Miller, +0.907
9. Rossi, + 0.971
10. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 1,168
11. Pedrosa, +1,210
12. Redding, + 1,498
13. Nakagami
14. Pol Espargaró, KTM, +1501
15. Nakasuga
16. Simeon
17. Petrucci
18. Smith, KTM. +1 779
19. Rins
20. Morbidelli
21. Guintoli
22. Torres
23. Abraham
24. Syahrin
25. Lüthi, + 2.475