MotoGP Indonesian GP: Honda's Espargaro tops FP1, Quartararo struggles in 16th

MotoGP last raced in Indonesia in 1997 at the Sentul circuit, while FP1 on Friday marks the Mandalika track’s first world championship racing action since November’s World Superbike finale.

The grid already has experience of Mandalika, having completed the final three days of pre-season testing at the track just over a month ago.

Since the test, Michelin has brought different rear tyres for the Indonesian GP, with a harder rear casing last raced in Thailand in 2018 being used in response to the extreme temperatures at Mandalika.

Heavy overnight rain soaked the track, but a dry line had appeared by the time MotoGP took to the circuit for its first 45-minute practice of the weekend.

Lap times began at over 11 seconds off the benchmark of 1m31.060s set by Honda’s Espargaro on the final day of the Mandalika test in February.

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira set the early pacesetter with a 1m42.301s, but that lap time would be whittled down as a host of riders took turns topping the times.

With 15 minutes remaining, Honda’s Espargaro – who sits third in the standings after his third place in the Qatar GP – led the timesheets with a 1m34.476s.

This stood as the reference lap for the next 11 minutes, before Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli guided his M1 to a 1m33.881s.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Akhil Puthiyedath

Yamaha will be looking to replicate its strong form from the Mandalika test this weekend after a disastrous Qatar GP, in which none of its riders appeared inside the top eight in the first race of 2022.

While Morbidelli would end FP1 fourth fastest and 0.382s off the pace after a late time attack on fresh soft rubber, reigning world champion team-mate Quartararo cut a frustrated figure at the end of the session