It was a hot second MotoGP second free practice and not only because the asphalt temperatures at Catalunya were at searing 51°C, but because Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo topped the timesheets (1.
42.
099 – under the race lap record) suprisingly lead a bevy of satellite bikes that jumped to the remaining top spots when several riders switched to the softer rear tire in the final exciting minutes of the session, that seemed more like qualifying than practice.
Alvaro Baustista on his Gresini Honda RC213V was the second fastest rider of the grid and 0.
207s adrift from his fellow countryman.
Yamaha Tech3 duo Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso were 3rd and 4th, respectively while Hector Barbera was the best Ducati rider on the grid as he was a little more than a half a second adrift with his outdated satellite GP12 Valencia 0 version.
Ben Spies on the factory Yamaha took the sixth spot after having lead the timesheets for a brief moment in the finale, while Dani Pedrosa was 7th, but reigning World Champion Casey Stoner who was on top in this morning’s free practice dropped to 10th and was more than a second adrift, but apparently he, Pedrosa and Rossi didn’t use the softer rear tire deeming it unnecessary if temperatures continue to be this high, as the softer tire won’t last the entire race distance.
Stefan Bradl was 8th with Ducati’s Nicky Hayden in 9th and the last rider to be within a second and leaving a 0.
958 gap compared to Lorenzo.
Karel Abraham was 11th, while Valentino Rossi was the last prototype rider in 12th and back to losing his usual 1.
4 seconds all over the circuit despite having the second top speed of 336,4 km.
Aleix Espargaro led the CRT’s this afternoon in 13th, as he was a mere 0.
033s faster than his Aspar team mate Randy de Puniet and 2.
639 from Lorenzo.
Mattia Pasini was 19th after a harmless crash, while a despondent Danilo Petrucci was last after suffering a technical difficulty on Ioda TR003 and he unfortunately pays the price of using the same Aprilia RSV4 engine in Superstock trim for the last four race weekends which can barely reach 300km/h on the straight.
MotoGP Catalunya FP2 results:01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1’42.
09902- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.
20703- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
34804- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
49305- Hector Barbera – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 0.
54006- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
70307- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.
77108- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.
84409- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 0.
95810- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 1.
03511- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 1.
24212- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 1.
43913- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 2.
63914- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 2.
67215- Michele Pirro – San Carlo Honda Gresini – FTR Honda – + 3.
53216- Colin Edwards – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Suter BMW – + 3.
76917- Yonny Hernandez – Avintia Blusens – BQR MotoGP – + 4.
35118- Ivan Silva – Avintia Blusens – BQR MotoGP – + 4.
40119- Mattia Pasini – Speed Master Team – ART GP12 – + 4.
40420- James Ellison – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP12 – + 4.
73721- Danilo Petrucci – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda TR003 – + 5.
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