Jorge Lorenzo looked in ominous form as he dominated the second free practice session for this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The World Champion's fastest time of 1:22.056 was impressive enough, but his consistency over longer runs will have struck fear into the opposition.
Of the 17 flying laps he completed during the session, 16 of them were in the 1:22s bracket with the one exception being his opening flyer of the session early on. Although five other riders set a quick lap in the 1:22s, Lorenzo's consistency was unmatched.
On single lap pace, the advantage was little over a tenth of a second with Dani Pedrosa taking second place on the first of the Repsol Hondas. Casey Stoner's afternoon session was pretty quiet in comparison to this morning. The championship leader didn't better his FP1 time until the chequered flag came out but he still claimed third, 0.175s off the pace.
The trio of factory Hondas finished line astern with Andrea Dovizioso in fourth place, a third of a second behind his teammates, but still quick enough to edge out the second factory Yamaha of Ben Spies.
Marco Simoncelli finished in sixth position, just as he did this morning, but the San Carlo Gresini rider has closed the gap to the front of the field. The Italian was three quarters of a second away from Lorenzo but was able to lap in the 1:22s, giving him a platform to build from tomorrow.
As in Germany, the best of the rest behind the top six was the Rizla Suzuki of Alvaro Bautista after the Spaniard found half a second on his morning best. The situation at the Sachsenring was also repeated just behind as he had a Ducati following him, although it wasn't a factory machine.
Instead, Randy de Puniet took eighth for Pramac Racing ahead of Colin Edwards with the fastest factory Desmosedici down in tenth ridden by Nicky Hayden. Teammate Valentino Rossi was right on his tail in 11th but another afternoon of experimental work failed to get them within a second of the ultimate pace.
Hector Barbera was next up in 12th while Cal Crutchlow explored the gravel trap at the Corkscrew for the second time today on his way to 13th. Fellow rookie Karel Abraham was 14th ahead of Toni Elias and Karel Abraham while Loris Capirossi was the only rider who failed to better his FP1 time in 17th.
Ben Bostrom continued to progress on his debut outing for LCR Honda. Although he brought up the rear again, the American managed to chop a second off his best effort from the morning session to get to within 4.103s of Lorenzo out front.
2011 Red Bull U.S Grand Prix: FP2
Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Team | Time/Gap |
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1:22.056 |
2 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | +0.141 |
3 | Casey Stoner | AUS | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | +0.175 |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | +0.481 |
5 | Ben Spies | USA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | +0.559 |
6 | Marco Simoncelli | ITA | Honda | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +0.747 |
7 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Suzuki | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | +1.000 |
8 | Randy de Puniet | FRA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | +1.079 |
9 | Colin Edwards | USA | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +1.127 |
10 | Nicky Hayden | USA | Ducati | Ducati Team | +1.139 |
11 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Ducati | Ducati Team | +1.313 |
12 | Hector Barbera | SPA | Ducati | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | +1.368 |
13 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +1.651 |
14 | Karel Abraham | CZE | Ducati | Cardion AB Motoracing | +1.755 |
15 | Toni Elias | SPA | Honda | LCR Honda MotoGP | +1.774 |
16 | Hiroshi Aoyama | JAP | Honda | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +2.534 |
17 | Loris Capirossi | ITA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | +2.607 |
18 | Ben Bostrom (WC) | USA | Honda | LCR Honda MotoGP | +4.103 |