Catalunya MotoGP: Rossi leads FP1 from Dovizioso
A late lap on new soft🎃 tyres prope❀lled Valentino Rossi to the top of the timesheets during opening practice for the Catalunya MotoGP.
Riding on the resurfaced Barcelona circuit, which also features a return to the fast penultimateﷺ corner for 2018, the Italian set a best time of 1m 39.456s to finish the session 0.347s clear of Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.
However, Dovizioso set his best l🦹ap using a new hard rear tyre. The Italian also narrowly 🧔edged out Mugello winning team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, whose best came on the soft-medium rubber combination.
A late lap on new soft tyres propelled Valentino Rossi to the top of the times🧸heets during opening practice for the Catalunya MotoGP.
Riding on the resurfaced Barcelona 𒁏circuit, which also features a return to the fast penultimate corner for 2🅘018, the Italian set a best time of 1m 39.456s to finish the session 0.347s clear of Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.
However, Dovizioso set his best lap using a new hard rear tyre. The Italian also narrowly edged out Mugello winning team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, whose best came on 🍒the soft-medium rubber combina♐tion.
Reigning champion Marc Marquez𝕴 set the pace for most of the session before being bumped down the order to fourth in the closꦺing stages.
The Repsol Honda star - who leads the standings by 2ꦏ3-points from Rossi despite a second DNF of the season last time at Mugello - posted his best time of the session on his open🍬ing run, using soft-medium tyres.
Also using that tyre combination were Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Te♍ch3) and Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha), whose🐎 fifth and sixth places - combined with Rossi's P1 performance - will have helped ease Yamaha's fears after last year's Barcelona woes.
Vinales had also set the fastest lap time at the recent🤡 privꦛate Catalunya test, with a 1m 38.974s.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Tito ꧋Rabat (Avintia Ducati), Andrea Iannone (Suzuki) and Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) completed the top ten. Iannone and Miller both fell, at the start and end of the session respectively, the Australian while trying to pa𝓀ss Bradley Smith.
Aleix Espargaro was eleventh for Aprilia, ahead of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and top rookie Hafizh Syahrin (Mon♊ster Y🅺amaha Tech3).
Wild-cards Mika Kallio (KTM) and Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) were 15th and 24th respectively, out of the large 26 rid🐈er line-up.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the foref꧂ront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
