Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez was the quickest rider overall on the opening day of play at the Barcelona Circuit on Friday. The Spaniard delighted his home fans when he set the best time overall in the combined classification ahead of his countryman, Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo, who was a mere two tenths off the Honda riders best time.

Damp conditions greeted the teams for the opening free practice session, but temperatures increased throughout the session and the track dried out quickly.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Jonas Folger was third fastest, three tenths back  ahead of the second Ducati piloted by Mugello winner, Andrea Dovizioso.

“It was a really strong first day and I am very pleased with how things developed,” Folger said. “To be honest, it obviously took some time to adapt and understand the new chicane and it felt a bit strange to ride through that section of the track instead of the previous one.”

“ However, we tried a lot of different things today in order to find an immediate direction for the setup of the bike, and now I can say that it was a good choice to do this and we have a clear way. Also, we completed a lot of laps on the medium tyre and in the end we ran the total race distance on one set. Then, I went out on soft tyres and we made a big step forward. It was a very good day for us and we improved every time that I left the pit box, so I hope that we can continue in this positive way tomorrow.”

It wasn't the best of days for the regular Yamaha team with Valentino Rossi down in ninth place overall and teammate and championship leader, Maverick Vinales 16th

“The damp conditions in this mornings free practice session were a little disappointing because we lost some valuable testing time, considering that we didn't come here to test two weeks ago, as opposed to our rivals,” Massimo Meregalli explained. “The last part of the track has been modified compared to last year, but it's not safer nor does it increase the level of MotoGP action and in general the condition of the track has also degraded.”

‘Anyway, we weren't expecting to face the difficulties that we experienced in FP2 with Maverick, but we are confident that we will fix it for tomorrow. Overall, Valentino is quite satisfied with the set-up, apart from the agility of the bike, especially in the last session. Tonight we will work to find further solutions which we will put to the test in FP3.”

GP of Catalunya – Combined classification after Day 1:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'44.478
2. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'44.700 / +0.222
3. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'44.839 / +0.361
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 1'44.883 / +0.405
5. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'44.890 / +0.412
6. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'45.063 / +0.585
7. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'45.098 / +0.620
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'45.116 / +0.638
9. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'45.118 / +0.640
10. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'45.311 / +0.833
11. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'45.375 / +0.897
12. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'45.465 / +0.987
13. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'45.554 / +1.076
14. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'45.755 / +1.277
15. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'45.760 / +1.282
16. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'45.810 / +1.332
17. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'45.868 / +1.390
18. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'45.932 / +1.454
19. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - 1'45.967 / +1.489
20. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'46.229 / +1.751
21. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'46.946 / +2.468
22. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'47.002 / +2.524
23. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'47.892 / +3.414