Dani Pedrosa set the pace in both Friday practice sessions as rain played a part in the opening day of practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The Repsol Honda rider coped best with a wet track in the morning session before rising to the top once the circuit had eventually dried out in FP2.
The morning session was largely inconclusive with many riders only choosing to complete a handful of laps, if any. The afternoon saw much more activity though but a wet patch at turn nine caught out Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales midway through the session, the Spaniard going on to end the day in sixth position.
Pedrosa would ultimately lower the benchmark time to a 1:39.420, earning him a half second advantage over a fellow Honda rider but few would’ve expected that rider in question to be Jack Miller. The Marc VDS rider revelled in the tricky conditions early in FP2, scything past riders as he enjoyed a level of confidence few other competitors were experiencing.
Cal Crutchlow completed a Honda 1-2-3 while Jorge Lorenzo produced his best Ducati display yet, hitting the top of the timesheets with four minutes to go before slipping to fourth. Danilo Petrucci took fifth on his GP17 ahead of Vinales while Alvaro Bautista claimed seventh on the 2016-spec Ducati.
Andrea Dovizioso was eighth ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro but the performance of the day belonged to Pol Espargaro who used an updated engine to full effect, taking KTM into the top ten for the first time. His exploits kept reigning champion Marc Marquez and current series leader Valentino Rossi outside the Q2 places heading into tomorrow’s final session.
2017 Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana: Free Practice Times
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