Efren Vazquez produced a stunning lap in the dying seconds of first practice to lead Nicolas Terol as the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend got underway. The Derbi rider was largely anonymous for most of the session as Terol took up his customary position at the top but edged ahead with his last lap of the morning.
Terol had earlier reeled off a succession of laps, culminating in a 1:51.510, which moved him into a half second lead over the rest of the field but Vazquez topped him with a 1:51.455. Teammate and championship contender Johann Zarco was immediately on the pace in third, clearly showing no lack of confidence after being denied his maiden win at Brno.
The man that snatched the victory from him was Sandro Cortese and the German set the pace just after the half hour mark before Terol got up to speed. The Intact Racing rider eventually finished fourth just in front of Britain's Danny Kent who rode superbly to take fifth.
Hector Faubel was sixth on the second of the Aspar Aprilias with Alberto Moncayo seventh, continuing on from his impressive weekend at Brno which took him to a maiden podium finish. After the illness which ruled him out of the Czech GP, Jonas Folger returned to the fold and set the eighth quickest time, with Adrian Martin and title hopeful Maverick Vinales completing the top ten.
It was an eventful morning for two of the other British youngsters with Danny Webb finishing 19th after a miraculous escape as he lost control of his Mahindra at the end of the session. The 20 year old somehow clung on to the bike as it careered through the grass before remounting and returning to the pits unscathed.
Harry Stafford wasn't so lucky five minutes from the end with a crash at turn six cutting his session short. He ended up in 22nd while Taylor Mackenzie kept out of trouble to finish 25th.
