MotoGP: Viñales blasts clear in FP1, Marquez crashes hard in Buriram

There were plenty of talking points from the opening session for the premier class, with the Championship leader crashing heavily

Dry weather provided a dramatic opening session for the MotoGP class, with plenty of headlines coming from the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Champion-elect Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was top of the session for the majority of it before suffering a huge crash on an out-lap with less than five minutes to go. Topping the session was Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), with rookie revelation Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) made it a 1-2 for Yamaha.

The session began in dramatic fashion as Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) crashed on an out-lap at the start of the session. Soon however, Marc Marquez stormed to the top and set a string of quick laps, confirming his strong pace for the weekend ahead. However, Yamaha would fight back in the final few moments, with Maverick Viñales topping the session from Fabio Quartararo, both riders featuring prominently on the best sectors. Marquez suffered a big crash in the closing stages of FP1 at the same corner as Oliveira but was third overall. The Spaniard was taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up immediately after.

It was a decent start for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in fourth, as he headed up Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), the Australian placing fifth ahead of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) fared much better in eighth, whilst top Suzuki honours went to Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). The best KTM in FP1 was Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who made an amazing save during the session to finish 13th, one place behind brother Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) 1’30.979
2. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) +0.191
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) +0.208
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) +0.226
5. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) +0.248
6. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) +0.503
7. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) +0.590
8. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) +0.614
9. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) +0.774
10. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) +0.820