Johann Zarco, Qatar MotoGP, 18 November 2023 // Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202311180362 // Usage for editorial use only //
Johann Zarco stitched together a late flyer to secure the scratch time in the opening practice outing for the Valencia Grand Prix, with MotoGP points leader Francesco Bagnaia 13th.
Times quickly reduced at a cold Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Alex Marquez dropping beneath the 1:31s barrier in the early goings with a 1:30.907s. Jorge Martin and Fabio Di Gianantonio soon moved clear of the Gresini man.
The riders continued to find more time as the session progressed and the circuit rubbered up, Di Gianantonio lowering the benchmark to 1:30.378s as the test entered its climactic stages.
The Qatar GP victor looked set to top the opening session of the finale weekend until Johann Zarco utilised a fresh set of medium tyres to insert his Pramac Ducati at the top of the timing sheets. The Frenchman put together a blistering 1:39.191s effort to head Di Gianantonio by 0.187s, with team-mate and title contender Jorge Martin ending up third just fractions further behind.
Marco Bezzecchi completed an all-Ducati top four on his VR46-prepared Desmosedici, while Maverick Vinales was best of the rest on his factory Aprilia.
Fabio Quartararo moved up to sixth late on for Yamaha ahead of Honda’s Marc Marquez, with GasGas KTM’s’ Augusto Fernandez ensuring all five manufacturers were represented within the top eight.
Enea Bastianini was ninth as the lead factory Ducati entry, while Alex Marquez was shuffled back to tenth by close of play – the double Malaysian GP rostrum finisher recovering from an early crash at Turn 1.
Bagnaia lingered towards the foot of the times for most of the outing, though managed to move into the top ten within the final ten minutes. He was pushed back to 13th in the end however as others improved on a fresh set of rubber.
It was a quiet session for the factory KTM pilots, with Jack Miller managing 12th just over seven-tenths-of-a-second adrift of Zarco’s benchmark while Brad Binder was 16th just ahead of Luca Marini.
Takaaki Nakagami was 18th for LCR Honda after a late crash at Turn 8, the same bend that also claimed factory Honda racer Joan Mir in the early goings. The 2020 MotoGP world champion ended the session 21st in the end, ahead of only Lorenzo Savadori.
The Italian is stepping in for the injured Miguel Oliveira at RNF Aprilia this weekend, while Aleix Espargaro – the other rider involved in Oliveira’s incident after the Portuguese ace missed his braking point in the Qatar sprint – was 20th as he braved it out with a fractured fibula.
Keyword: Zarco heads Di Gianantonio in opening Valencia MotoGP practice