In the heat and humidity of Indonesia, MotoGP’s FP1 welcomed Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) to top spot. The #10 enjoyed a late flurry of lap times, going top on his penultimate flying lap. A 1’30.809 saw the Italian as one just two riders in the 1’30 bracket, the other being Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the top three with strong pace all the way through the session.
Marini continued Honda’s progress from Japan, coming out of the blocks firing but it was his final stint that was impressive, taking top spot. Acosta looked set to go top but the Spaniard had a few moments out on track: a big save through Turn 15 was followed up by a rear-end moment at Turn 11 and then a near-miss with Japanese GP victor Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) at Turn 10. Bezzecchi was solid in third ahead of Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), the #42 enjoying one of his best Friday mornings of the season. Rounding out a top five that represented all manufacturers, newly-crowned World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), who himself had a trip through the Turn 1 gravel when exiting the pitlane for his final stint.
Yamaha enjoyed a strong FP1, with Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) in sixth spot ahead of 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo, a smidge over half a second behind Marini’s top time. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was next up, ahead of Motegi podium finisher Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) completing the top ten. Elsewhere in the session, a big crash for his teammate Fermin Aldeguer at Turn 8 whilst Bagnaia was rooted to P17 at the chequered flag.
