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Pedrosa Leads Honda 1-2-3-4 In Second Practice

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Dani Pedrosa - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Dani Pedrosa - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com


Dani Pedrosa
moved ahead of teammate Casey Stoner on Friday afternoon as Honda totally dominated on home turf at Motegi. The works RC212V machines locked out the top four places with Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli also showing a strong turn of pace.

Simoncelli led early on, becoming the first rider to go quicker than the benchmark time from FP1, clocking a 1:47.188. Stoner shrugged off a mistake which forced him to run through the gravel at turn 11, going a tenth quicker at the end of his first run.

The times tumbled even further when Pedrosa returned to the track as the Spaniard set a 1:46.818, before shaving another tenth on his next lap. That would prove good enough to lead the quartet of Hondas although Stoner brought the gap down to 0.054s in the closing stages.

Dovizioso was a tenth and a half back in third while Simoncelli shrugged off his morning crash to take fourth. Jorge Lorenzo was the best of the rest, albeit half a second off the pace in fifth but his problems paled in comparison to teammate Ben Spies.

The American has been battling with illness since arriving in Japan and aborted the session after just six laps. For the record, Spies was 14th fastest but ended the session undergoing check-ups in the medical centre.

Behind Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden led the Ducati challenge once again after matching the Yamaha pace while home favourite Hiroshi Aoyama finished a solid seventh ahead of the second GP11.1 of Valentino Rossi.

Hector Barbera was ninth quickest ahead of Colin Edwards while Tech3 teammate Cal Crutchlow was 13th after finding a second on his morning time.

 

Grand Prix of Japan: Free Practice 2 Classification:

Pos Rider Nat Bike Team Time/Gap
1 Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda Repsol Honda Team 1:46.790
2 Casey Stoner AUS Honda Repsol Honda Team +0.054
3 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Honda Repsol Honda Team +0.162
4 Marco Simoncelli ITA Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +0.398
5 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +0.520
6 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Ducati Team +0.591
7 Hiroshi Aoyama JAP Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +0.995
8 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Ducati Team +1.185
9 Hector Barbera SPA Ducati Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +1.265
10 Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.286
11 Alvaro Bautista SPA Suzuki Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.307
12 Randy de Puniet FRA Ducati Pramac Racing Team +1.584
13 Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.589
14 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +1.777
15 Toni Elias SPA Honda LCR Honda MotoGP +1.953
16 Karel Abraham CZE Ducati Cardion AB Motoracing +2.515
17 Kousuke Akiyoshi (WC) JAP Honda LCR Honda MotoGP +2.674
18 Shinichi Ito (WC) JAP Honda Honda Racing Team +2.883
19 Damian Cudlin AUS Ducati Pramac Racing Team +4.559
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