Marc Marquez dominates Aragon FP1, Vinales 19th on Aprilia debut

Marc Marquez dominated MotoGP FP1 at Aragon by finishing over nine tenths clear, while a returning Maverick Vinales was 19th for Aprilia.  

After several riders went fastest during the initial flurry of laps, Marquez soon set the first sub 1m 50s lap time of the session.

As the laps ticked by, Marquez continued to set an impressive pace to go half a second clear of brother Alex. 

However, faster laps from Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami and Jack Miller saw the eight-time world champion’s advantage reduced to under half a second. 

There was a good on-track battle between Maverick Vinales and Cal Crutchlow during the opening stages, as both riders exchanged places several times before the Yamaha man returned to pit lane.

Vinales, who is making his Aprilia debut this weekend finished the session in 19th place, while team-mate Aleix Espargaro was sixth. 

Iker Lecuona was the first man to crash at turn 16, while Valentino Rossi then joined the Spaniard by suffering a fall at turn five.  

While Marquez didn’t improve his lap time during the second run, the Spaniard’s consistent rhythm was unmatched by the rest of the field. 

It was only in the final ten minutes that the field closed up on Marquez, as Fabio Quartararo and  Francesco Bagnaia were two of the big movers. The Frenchman went fifth, while Bagnaia moved to second. 

However, Marquez then went over a second clear of Bagnaia after fitting a brand new soft rear tyre. 

Marquez was one of a select few to do a time attack run, while most of the field stayed out on a used medium. 

Mir moved into second late on, while Alex Marquez went fourth overall - split the Ducati’s of Bagnaia and Miller.