Jorge Lorenzo made full use of the resurfaced Misano track to set the fastest ever two-wheeled lap of the circuit on Friday afternoon. The Spaniard went fractionally faster than Marc Marquez’s 2013 pole position record, ensuring he would finish the opening day of practice ahead of the reigning champion.
After an early flurry of activity, the two Repsol Hondas ran first and second with Marquez leading Dani Pedrosa by a quarter of a second and that was the way it stayed for a long spell as teams switched their focus to race preparation. The status quo did change slightly on Lorenzo’s second run with the Yamaha man splitting the Hondas but the more striking alteration appeared on the front of his YZR-M1 which was sporting Ducati-style winglets.
The updates seemed to have the desired effect with Lorenzo breaking into the 1:32s, minutes after Marquez had done the same, to take a 0.053s advantage into tomorrow’s final practice session. Pedrosa held onto third, although he did slip back by four tenths, while Andrea Dovizioso fitted a soft rear tyre to his Ducati which vaulted him up to fourth.
Championship leader and home favourite Valentino Rossi was fifth, showing a worrying repeat of the dry-weather form from Silverstone where he struggled to match the pace of Lorenzo and Marquez. The two Tech 3 Yamahas followed with Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith sixth and eighth, split by British GP hero Danilo Petrucci.
Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro, who was a sensational third in FP1, remains in a provisional Q2 position in ninth while Cal Crutchlow is on the bubble in tenth.
2015 GP TIM DI SAN MARINO E DELLA RIVIERA DI RIMINI: FRIDAY PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION
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