Jorge Lorenzo struck the first blow in the MotoGP championship-deciding weekend by setting the pace on Friday at Valencia. The Spaniard, who trails Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi by seven points, overhauled FP1 leader Marc Marquez with Rossi, who will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid, fifth overall.
In cooler conditions, the morning session looked set to be the quicker of the two with Marquez on top with a 1:31.250 but a switch to a soft front tyre saw Lorenzo change that in FP2. Having languished down in fifth for much of the afternoon, Jorge clocked a 1:31.111 to climb four places and to confirm his superiority, completed another two laps within a tenth of his own benchmark.
Marquez was only fifth once FP2 had drawn to a close but his morning effort was still good enough for second in the combined times while Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa claimed third, a quarter of a second off the pace. Andrea Iannone utilised the soft rear tyre to grab fourth with Rossi relegated to fifth although the championship leader did show impressive race pace throughout, something he will need from the back of the grid on Sunday.
Danilo Petrucci was sixth quickest for Pramac Ducati ahead of factory rider Andrea Dovizioso with the Espargaro brothers next up, Pol outpacing Aleix. Cal Crutchlow currently holds the final Q2 spot in tenth although Bradley Smith will be under pressure in FP3 having ended day one in fifteenth.
2015 GP MOTUL DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA: FRIDAY CLASSIFICATION
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