MotoGP: Petrucci tops opening day at Jerez

Danilo Petrucci has topped the first day of a two-day outing at Jerez for the MotoGP grid, coming home clear of teammate Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the time sheets. The final pre-season test of 2018 before the testing ban comes into effect, the Italian duo just head off an impressive time from LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami in third.

Speaking afterwards, Petrucci said: “I’m very pleased with the way things went today, because it’s always good to finish the day in first place, but in particular I really like the feeling with the used tyre. I always felt good on the bike, like at Valencia, and for me this was important because we changed almost nothing in the set-up and in any case we always went well. Today we didn’t focus on lap times, but instead worked a lot on our pace and also tried some new components that gave us very useful information. Overall I’m really happy with the way we are working together as a team.”