Marc Marquez dominated the opening session of MotoGP practice at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
A master of the Saxony venue, Marquez hasn't won here since 2021 but begins the weekend a very strong favourite to end this drought - a position that has been reinforced by his performance in first practice.
Marquez dipped into the 1m20s laptime range in the opening minutes of the 45-minute session, and it took until past the halfway point that Fabio Di Giannantonio joined him in that range - albeit more than six tenths of a second off.
The gaps closed up as numerous riders took new rubber for the final minutes, but none of them could match Marquez's time set on his original set.
Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) came closest, lapping a tenth off on new rubber, with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) - who had crashed at Turn 1 before his late surge - and Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) completing a top five in which all five of MotoGP's manufacturers were represented.
Di Giannantonio remained second-best of those who elected against using fresh tyres in sixth, with Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) likewise forgoing a tyre switch as they ended up eighth- and ninth-fastest respectively.
Alex Marquez, second in the championship, was competitive on his return after suffering a hand fracture in an Assen crash - his final position of 14th not representative given he didn't run new tyres.
The same was true for Luca Marini, 17th, returning from his long absence after serious injuries sustained in a Suzuka 8 Hours testing crash.
Both riders appear in good shape to continue with their weekends.
With Somkiat Chantra ruled out in advance due to a training injury, the MotoGP grid is likely to be down to not 21 but 20 riders as a result of Enea Bastianini's appendicitis diagnosis.
Bastianini is not at the track, as he is being treated in hospital close to his home in Italy.
"I talked to him this morning and he's feeling slightly better," Tech3 team manager Nicolas Goyon told MotoGP.com.
"For sure not at the level to ride a MotoGP bike. His wish and his target is to come here, but he has to respect his body.
"He's trying to do everything not to operate and to see what's possible. But it's quite unlikely he's going to join this weekend at the Sachsenring."
Tech3 does not intend to replace Bastianini if he is ruled out as expected.
Results
1 Marc Marquez (Ducati) 1m20.372s
2 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +0.109s
3 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.315s
4 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +0.508s
5 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +0.575s
6 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.610s
7 Joan Mir (Honda) +0.642s
8 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +0.644s
9 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.700s
10 Miguel Oliveira (Pramac Yamaha) +0.718s
11 Brad Binder (KTM) +0.847s
12 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +0.872s
13 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.881s
14 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +0.904s
15 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.992s
16 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1.001s
17 Luca Marini (Honda) +1.039s
18 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +1.106s
19 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +1.522s
20 Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) +2.367s
from The Race https://ift.tt/Ze8j01h
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