Marquez back in first place in opening Hungary practice
Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez led the way in the opening premier-class practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix at Balaton Park.
Marquez - still not at full fitness after surgery to remove two screws and a bone fragment from his shoulder - has been tipped as potentially the rider to beat at what could be the last MotoGP race at the twisty Hungarian venue.
He did little to disprove lofty expectations in the opening 45-minute session, for most of which Marquez and future Ducati team-mate Pedro Acosta looked a cut above of the rest.
Acosta was the early leader with a significant gap over the field, but Marquez eventually jumped three tenths clear with his 1m38.626s. He was the clear standout in the left-hander-dominated first sector, while both he and Acosta were also notably strong in the chicanes of sector three.
Ultimately, Raul Fernandez slotted in between the future factory Ducati team-mates at the very end, lapping 0.169s off Marquez.
Fermin Aldeguer, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pecco Bagnaia made it four Ducatis in the top six.
Injury stand-ins Iker Lecuona and Cal Crutchlow propped up the timesheets as expected, albeit with Lecuona - who has recent Balaton Park experience in World Superbike - just two seconds off the pace.
FP1 times
1 Marc Marquez (Ducati) 1m38.626s
2 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.169s
3 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.298s
4 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +0.472s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.532s
6 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.615s
7 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.639s
8 Luca Marini (Honda) +0.726s
9 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.742s
10 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +0.772s
11 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +0.823s
12 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +0.928s
13 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.964s
14 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +1.154s
15 Joan Mir (Honda) +1.192s
16 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1.200s
17 Brad Binder (KTM) +1.269s
18 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +1.357s
19 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +1.407s
20 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +1.854s
21 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +2.036s
22 Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +3.578s
