Jorge Martin (Pramac) was the fastest rider in the first free practice session for the Thai MotoGP Grand Prix. The Spaniard set his best lap of 1:30.520 minutes, while Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) came in second with a time of 238 ppt, while Pol Espargaro (GASGAS) came in third with a time of 492 ppt.
The Pramac driver, who starts this round 27 points behind Francesco Bagnaia, is starting on the right foot, and Bagnaia, as has been the case on recent weekends, appears to be using this session to do some testing of the race, rather than looking for fast times. The Italian finished this free practice session in tenth place, 987 thousandths behind the Spaniard.
Furthermore, in a session where times counted for nothing, Aleix Espargaro was fourth, despite being more than six and a half tenths behind Martin, while Franco Morbidelli was fifth and Augusto Fernandez sixth. Fabio Di Giannantonio was seventh ahead of Raul Fernandez and Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia rounding out the top ten.
Some big names were left out of the top ten, such as Quartararo, Binder, Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez, with Miguel Oliveira closing out the schedule for this session. Immediately after Australia, the Portuguese driver was already anticipating difficulties in this round, similar to those he has faced in practice since MotoGP left Europe. In this session, the Portuguese driver finished 1.601 seconds ahead of Martin, while the other Aprilias all finished inside the top ten. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in sessions where times are relevant.
The next MotoGP practice session is scheduled to start at 9am.
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