MotoGP

Lorenzo Tops FP2 As Marquez Tumbles

2 Mins read

Jorge Lorenzo completed his domination of the Friday practice sessions with another strong display in second practice at Phillip Island. The world champion finished half a second ahead of the rest this afternoon but the other headline of FP2 was the difficulties encountered by his Honda rivals.

Lorenzo was straight on his FP1 pace at the start of the second session but on his second timed lap, Marc Marquez lost control of his RC213V at Lukey Heights with the back end stepping out. Marquez was eventually thrown to the floor on his left hand side and given the collarbone injury sustained at Silverstone, the Repsol Honda squad will have been relieved to see their rider return unscathed.

The problems didn’t end there as Dani Pedrosa pulled over late in the session with an apparent technical problem. Replays and further inspection by the team discovered that the engine mounting bolt hadn’t been locked properly and subsequently came loose. The problem was easily fixable but it ended Dani’s session early.

As a result, he wouldn’t finish as the leading Honda with Alvaro Bautista taking the honours for GO&FUN Gresini. Lorenzo was busy setting a 1:28.961 while the factory Hondas were having problems and ended the day half a second ahead of Bautista and Pedrosa. Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow climbed ahead of Marquez but the championship leader will sit second overnight by virtue of his FP1 time.

Bradley Smith improved to a 1:30.165 to finish seventh with Randy de Puniet continuing to punch above his wright in eighth, leading the factory Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso by four tenths of a second. The Pramac duo Andrea Iannone and Yonny Hernandez will be under pressure to improve in FP3, both sitting outside of the top ten, while Aleix Espargaro is also a little lower than normal in thirteenth.

Despite taking part in FP1, Stefan Bradl has withdrawn from the weekend with his injuries from Malaysia proving too tough to overcome.

 

 TISSOT AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION
TOP 10 RIDERS AFTER FP3 AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFY FOR QUALIFYING 2
POS RIDER CONSTRUCTOR TEAM BEST TIME
1  JORGE LORENZO YAMAHA YAMAHA FACTORY RACING 1:28.961
2  MARC MARQUEZ HONDA REPSOL HONDA TEAM 1:29.255
3  ALVARO BAUTISTA HONDA GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI 1:29.438
4  DANI PEDROSA HONDA REPSOL HONDA TEAM 1:29.478
5  VALENTINO ROSSI YAMAHA YAMAHA FACTORY RACING 1:29.537
6  CAL CRUTCHLOW YAMAHA MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 1:29.667
7  BRADLEY SMITH YAMAHA MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 1:30.165
8  RANDY DE PUNIET ART POWER ELECTRONICS ASPAR 1:30.215
9  NICKY HAYDEN DUCATI DUCATI TEAM 1:30.609
10  ANDREA DOVIZIOSO DUCATI DUCATI TEAM 1:30.754
11  ANDREA IANNONE DUCATI ENERGY T.I. PRAMAC RACING 1:30.792
12  COLIN EDWARDS FTR KAWASAKI NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING 1:30.917
13  ALEIX ESPARGARO ART POWER ELECTRONICS ASPAR 1:31.091
14  YONNY HERNANDEZ DUCATI IGNITE PRAMAC RACING TEAM 1:31.134
15  HECTOR BARBERA FTR AVINTIA BLUSENS 1:31.286
16  HIROSHI AOYAMA FTR AVINTIA BLUSENS 1:31.434
17  CLAUDIO CORTI FTR KAWASAKI NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING 1:31.451
18  DANILO PETRUCCI IODA-SUTER CAME IODARACING PROJECT 1:31.803
19  MICHAEL LAVERTY ART PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT 1:32.066
20  LUCA SCASSA ART CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:32.261
21  BRYAN STARING FTR HONDA GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI 1:32.290
22  LUKAS PESEK IODA-SUTER CAME IODARACING PROJECT 1:32.943
23  STEFAN BRADL HONDA LCR HONDA MOTOGP 1:33.165
24  DAMIAN CUDLIN PBM PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT 1:34.969
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