MotoGP Qatar Practice 1: Marc Marquez tops the opening session of running for 2015

HONDA dominated the opening practice of the 2015 MotoGP season with Marc Marquez starting the new year where he finished the last: on top.

Marquez tops opening session in Qatar

HONDA dominated the opening practice session of the 2015 MotoGP season at Qatar with Marc Marquez starting the new year where he finished the last: on top.

The 21-year-old Repsol Honda rider logged the fastest time of the session at Losail, his 1m55.281s lap putting him just 0.076 of a second ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa. No other riders were able to get within 0.4 of a second of the red and orange machines.

Aleix Espargaro came closest on the new Suzuki, impressing with a soft tyre run to take the third fastest time just 0.4s behind Marquez. Jorge Lorenzo was next, Espargaro pipping the first of the factory Yamahas by just 0.013s, with Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top five.

PREVIEW: WHO IS MARQUEZ’S BIGGEST THREAT IN 2015?

Aleix Espargaro.

A train of Ducatis were next led by Danilo Petrucci on the satellite Pramac bike, with he and his teammate Yonny Hernandez sandwiching factory rider Andrea Dovizioso in sixth, seventh and eighth.

Watch every minute of MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 practice, qualifying and racing LIVE in HD from Qatar this weekend on Fox Sports 506.

Valentino Rossi ended the opening session of running in ninth, with Andrea Iannone completing the top 10 on the second of the factory Ducatis.

Jack Miller.

Jack Miller ended his first official session in MotoGP’s top class down in 19th, but second-fastest among the production-spec Hondas.

Marquez’s immediate pace was impressive, moving to the top of the timesheets with a 1m55.849s lap on just his second lap, almost a second and a half quicker than anyone else to that point. Though Pedrosa undercut him, Marquez regained the top spot and kept it soon after.

“Today went pretty well,” Marquez said. “It is always important to make a good start to the weekend.

“I felt good and the feeling was similar to that which we had in pre-season testing, although maybe there was a little less grip.

“Tomorrow we will try to keep progressing, but we can’t forget that the track surface here will improve a lot and the times will come down.”

RESULTS - Practice 1, MotoGP Round 1, Qatar
1. (93) Marc Marquez (Honda) 1m55.281s
2. (26) Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.076s
3. (41) Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki) +0.404s
4. (99) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.417s
5. (35) Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.537s
6. (9) Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) +0.658s
7. (4) Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +0.699s
8. (68) Yonny Hernandez (Ducati) +0.858s
9. (46) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.881s
10. (29) Andrea Iannone (Ducati) +1.034s
11. (44) Pol Espargaro (Yamaha) +1.080s
12. (45) Scott Redding (Honda) +1.093s
13. (38) Bradley Smith (Yamaha) +1.147s
14. (6) Stefan Bradl (Forward Yamaha) +1.296s
15. (17) Karel Abraham (Honda) +1.370s
16. (15) Alex de Angelis (Honda) +1.487s
17. (25) Maverick Vinales (Suzuki) +1.641s
18. (8) Hector Barbera (Ducati) +1.676s
19. (43) Jack Miller (Honda) +1.702s
20. (76) Loris Baz (Forward Yamaha) +1.750s
21. (69) Nicky Hayden (Honda) +1.771s
22. (19) Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) +1.849s
23. (50) Eugene Laverty (Honda) +1.943s
24. (63) Mike Di Meglio (Ducati) +2.331s
25. (33) Marco Melandri (Honda) +4.298s

Originally published as MotoGP Qatar Practice 1: Marc Marquez tops the opening session of running for 2015