Quartararo pips SRT team-mate Morbidelli on Day 1 of Misano test

Fabio Quartararo finished narrowly ahead of Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli on Day 1 of the official MotoGP test at Misano.

Quartararo usurped previous pace-setter Marc Marquez in each of the morning and afternoon sessions to finish the day with a best of 1:32.996s, set with 90 minutes to go.

Morbidelli closed the gap to the Frenchman to just 0.023s on his last of 40 laps at the venue of the upcoming San Marino Grand Prix, leaving Marquez in third with a 1:33.222s.

The Repsol Honda rider had a crash during the day on one of four bikes available to him but was the odd man out in an otherwise all-Yamaha top five by the end of the afternoon.

Marquez’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who is still recovering from injury, only went out in the morning session, in which he was 21st fastest.

Monster Energy Yamaha duo Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi each ended up slightly further back as they tested a second version of Yamaha’s 2020 engine.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco were sixth and eighth respectively.

Zarco, who is leaving the team at the end of the season, will not partake in Day 2 having concentrated on race set-ups on Day 1, but test rider Dani Pedrosa is set to see more track time.

Mission Winnow Ducati test rider Danilo Petrucci led the way for the Bologna factory in seventh, Joan Mir returned from injury to be ninth for Suzuki Ecstar, and Idemitsu LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top 10.

Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller was 0.806s off the pace in 11th, two positions ahead of factory counterpart Andrea Dovizioso, who rode in the afternoon session having been passed fit in the morning after his horror crash in last weekend’s British MotoGP.

Alex Rins, who won that race, crashed his Suzuki on his way to 15th for the day, while Castrol LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow went down twice as he ended up 19th.

The test resumes this evening at 1730 AEST.

Results: Misano In-season Test: Day 1