After Joan Mir’s podium at Motegi on Sunday, teammate Luka Malini took over the HRC spotlight by leading the opening practices of Indonesia’s Motogpu.
The Italian switched to a new medium tire and vaulted over KTM’s Pedro Acosta (new front tire, old rear) on the final lap to the top of the game.
Aprilia’s Marco Betzecchi was the fastest in most of the 45th minute, finishing third. The fastest riders had no changes to the tires, so they kept the same stiff front and medium rear rubber.
Also, one of the biggest surprises of the morning, the old Hard Mediam Tires, had Yamaha’s Alex Rins.
The Spaniard’s pace on the old 22-lap tire suggested that on-screen tire data could have been incorrect, but was later confirmed as true by official classification.
Newly crowned MotoGP champion Mark Marquez began the weekend in fifth place with Ducati Lenovo, but teammate and double Motegi winner Francesco Bagnaia was just 17th.
Both kept the same tires throughout the session.
Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller installed new tires in the second half of the sixth place. Rins’ teammate Fabio Quartaro stayed at the seventh oldest Gomu.
Fabio of Giannantonio’s VR46, Alex Marquez of Mir and Gresini completed the top 10.
Gresini’s Fermin Aldegu was the only disabled person, but many riders were scared by the hot, slippery surfaces.
The hard front and soft (sprint) or medium (grand prix) rear were the favorite choices for last year’s Indonesia round.
Michelin has changed the medium front compound after the riders disliked the previous version and skipped straight from soft to hard in the past.
Riders usually chose “unnecessary” compounds for FP1 to avoid using preferred tires on dirty trucks.
Therefore, this afternoon practice to determine direct Q2 access will be more representative of the race and qualifying pace.