Lorenzo sets pace on Day 1 of free practice for Catalonia MotoGP

Barcelona  :  Spain's Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) on Friday set the pace on the first day of free practice for the Catalonia MotoGP, which saw Marc Marquez crashing and ending up on the ground.

Valentino Rossi of Italy (Yamaha) set the pace in the morning session, but Lorenzo clocked in a time of one minute 38.930 seconds in the 14th lap, setting a new track record, reports Efe.

Once more, Lorenzo showed that his victory at the Italy Grand Prix was not a freak occurrence, as he got the better of Italy's Andrea Iannone (Suzuki), who recorded a time of one minute, 39.037 seconds.

Spaniard Maverick Viñales (Yamaha), who topped the timesheet at some point, came third at the end of the day, ahead of Italy's Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).

The session witnessed many crashes, as Johan Zarco (Yamaha) hit the ground, followed during the final stretch by Marquez, with less than four minutes to go.