For the third time this season, MotoGP is returning to the same track for a second Grand Prix, also following a one-day test on Tuesday.
Franco Morbidelli, winner of the San Marino GP race, set the early pace on his Petronas Yamaha with 1: 33.194 minutes before Pol Espargaro of KTM moved into the lead with 1: 32.390 minutes.
Morbidelli – who missed the test on Tuesday due to an upset stomach – returned to the top of the stack after just under 15 minutes with a time of 1: 32.365s.
He would improve that to 1: 32.224 in the final 15 minutes, with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso dropping him off six minutes before the end of a soft tire time attack.
Dovizioso, who struggled throughout the weekend in San Marino but had a breakthrough setup in the test, was the fastest with 1: 32.152 minutes.
This was the benchmark for a short time when Joan Mir led his Suzuki in the first lap under 1:32 of the day with a time of 1: 31.926 minutes.
Quartararo, who described the Suzuki as “perfect” on Thursday, was 1: 31.889 minutes ahead of the GSX-RR on his Yamaha and finished the session with 1: 31.721 minutes.
Morbidelli opted for a hard tire at the end of the session and was just 0.090 seconds behind his teammate, while Pol Espargaro – who briefly took first place in the closing stages – completed the KTM top 3.
I was pushed to fourth place on the checkered flag ahead of Miguel Oliveira from Tech 3 and Takaaki Nakagami from LCR.
Dovizioso’s 1: 31.152 minutes left him in seventh place in the end. His Ducati colleague Johann Zarco rode his Avintia motorcycle with an updated chassis and followed him in eighth place ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia and Pramacs Francesco Bagnaia.
San Marino GP Poleman Maverick Vinales waived a time attack in the end and finished 13th, while Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi also did not set a flying lap in 17th.
Alex Rins had a near highside at turn 5 in the middle of the session and fell about 10 minutes later on the Quercia turn at turn 8.
He was 16th in FP1 behind Pramacs Jack Miller and KTMs Brad Binder.