Marc Marquez began his quest for a tenth Grand Prix victory in succession in fine style by topping the Friday practice times at Indianapolis. The world champion carried a 77 point cushion into the summer break over teammate Dani Pedrosa and enjoyed a comfortable lead in FP2, lapping two tenths quicker than Andrea Iannone and half a second up on Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seen a number of alterations since last year’s Grand Prix with a number of corners reprofiled, providing a faster layout. The changes were expected to play into the hands of Yamaha and first practice seemed to support that theory with Valentino Rossi going quickest ahead of Bradley Smith but the afternoon saw the normal order restored from Honda’s point of view.
Jorge Lorenzo was the early frontrunner in FP2 on a 1:34.117 but Marquez soon broke into the 1:33s to pull four tenths clear of the opposition. Valentino Rossi briefly restored Yamaha’s superiority but Marquez responded by becoming the first rider to crack the 1:32s, moving him ahead of the impressive Iannone who had taken over from Rossi.
Andrea Dovizioso was another rider to have a spell at the top in the latter stages but he was later bumped to fourth by Lorenzo while Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl completed the top six on their respective Honda RC213Vs. Yonny Hernandez shone all day on the Pramac Ducati, finishing the day in seventh, while Aleix Espargaro edged out morning pacesetters Rossi and Smith for eighth spot.
Scott Redding was another rider to turn heads with another outstanding display. The British rookie rose to third at one stage of the first session before outpacing Cal Crutchlow and his Gresini teammate Alvaro Bautista to take twelfth in the afternoon. Michael Laverty was nineteenth on the leading PBM machine while Leon Camier made a solid start to his debut weekend, lapping 3.5s shy of the ultimate pace.
 2014 RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX – COMBINED FREE PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 |  93. MARC MARQUEZ |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:32.882 | FP2 |
| 2 |  29. ANDREA IANNONE |
DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 1:33.104 | FP2 |
| 3 | 99. JORGE LORENZO |
YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 1:33.424 | FP2 |
| 4 | 4. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 1:33.432 | FP2 |
| 5 | 26. DANI PEDROSA |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:33.493 | FP2 |
| 6 |  6. STEFAN BRADL |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 1:33.513 | FP2 |
| 7 |  68. YONNY HERNANDEZ |
DUCATI | PRAMAC RACING | 1:33.531 | FP2 |
| 8 | 41. ALEIX ESPARGARO |
FORWARD YAMAHA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 1:33.587 | FP2 |
| 9 | 46. VALENTINO ROSSI |
YAMAHA | MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP | 1:33.598 | FP2 |
| 10 |  38. BRADLEY SMITH |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 1:33.621 | FP2 |
| 11 | 44. POL ESPARGARO |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 1:33.690 | FP2 |
| 12 | 45. SCOTT REDDING |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 1:33.971 | FP2 |
| 13 | 35. CAL CRUTCHLOW |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 1:33.996 | FP2 |
| 14 | 19. ALVARO BAUTISTA |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 1:34.054 | FP2 |
| 15 |  17. KAREL ABRAHAM |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 1:34.912 | FP2 |
| 16 | 5. COLIN EDWARDS |
FORWARD YAHAMA | NGM FORWARD RACING | 1:34.994 | FP2 |
| 17 |  7. HIROSHI AOYAMA |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 1:35.106 | FP2 |
| 18 | 8. HECTOR BARBERA |
AVINTIA | AVINTIA RACING | 1:35.231 | FP2 |
| 19 | 70. MICHAEL LAVERTY |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 1:35.472 | FP2 |
| 20 | 9. DANILO PETRUCCI |
ART | OCTO IODARACING TEAM | 1:35.721 | FP2 |
| 21 |  63. MIKE DI MEGLIO |
AVINTIA | AVINTIA RACING | 1:35.749 | FP2 |
| 22 |  23. BROC PARKES |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 1:35.941 | FP2 |
| 23 | 2. LEON CAMIER |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 1:36.394 | FP2 |
