MOTEGI, Japan – Fabio Quartararo paced day one of MotoGP action at Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi on Friday.
The Petronas Yamaha SRT rider jumped to the top spot late in the second practice session thanks to his best time of 1:44.764, which was .321 seconds faster than the lap put down by fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales.
It wasn’t all roses for Quartararo, who ran his bike into the gravel trap in turn one shortly after setting his fast lap to bring his practice to a premature end.
No one was able to get remotely close to Quartararo’s lap time, leaving the rookie on top of the practice charts to end the day.
Recently crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez was third fastest Friday, followed by Ducati’s Andera Dovizioso and Yamaha factory ace Valentino Rossi.
There were a few incidents in the second practice, with Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller both crashing. Neither rider was seriously injured and they were both able to continue.