Terol Leads, Kent Impresses In Second Practice

Nicolas Terol led another closely contested practice session on Friday afternoon at Misano but equally important from a British point of view was the emergence of Danny Kent.

The British rookie is thriving in his new found seniority within the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport camp, with the team placing him on the Aprilia RSA as opposed to the less advanced RSW he had ridden previously, and proved it one again by taking it to third place.

The fastest time switched between a number of riders during the 40 minute session with Efren Vazquez taking the early lead. Maverick Vinales and Terol took turns at the top before Hector Faubel took over, becoming the first rider to go below the morning benchmark ten minutes from the end on a 1:44.529.

The 28 year old hung on until the final two minutes when Terol clocked a 1:44.328, followed moments later by a 1:44.139. Faubel managed to go slightly quicker but all that did was prevent Danny Kent from taking second, the teenager delivering a 1:44.479.

Johann Zarco had an opportunity to get in amongst the Aprilias at the front but crashed on his final run, leaving him down in fourth, just ahead of Vazquez on the second AirAsia Derbi. The two Blusens Aprilias were closely matched too with Sergio Gadea edging out Vinales for sixth while Adrian Martin got the third Aspar Aprilia into eighth.

After finishing the morning way down the order, Sandro Cortese made it up to ninth in the afternoon although he still seems short of the pace that took him to a victory and a third place in the last two events. Luis Salom will be delighted just to be back after missing Indianapolis through injury and the Spaniard seems back to full fitness, going tenth quickest today.

There were also notable performances from two unfamiliar names as Miroslav Popov and Kevin Calia finished 11^th and 13^th respectively on their wildcard Aprilias, making full use of their Grand Prix opportunity.

Danny Webb clocked the 16^th fastest time on the Mahindra and looks set to compete for the rest of the weekend despite injuring his hand six days ago while Harry Stafford and Taylor Mackenzie ended up in 27^th and 32^nd.

Friday Practice 2 Result: