It’s Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo Leading Friday at Jerez
Larry Lawrence | April 22, 2016
Photo by Gold & Goose
Jorge Lorenzo promised to continue to give his all in spite of his recently announced move from Yamaha to Ducati next season and Friday at Jerez he showed he has no intention of backing off. Lorenzo put the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP machine atop the timing charts in Free Practice 2 kicking off day one of round four of the MotoGP Championship.
Lorenzo pushed his Yamaha to a time of 1:39.555, over 3-10ths faster than series leader Marc Marquez on the Honda, who turned a 1:39.9. The top two were the only riders to get into the 1:39s. Lorenzo had also led Free Practice 1 but was able to improve his time by 0.7s in the second session. This weekend Lorenzo is looking for victory to try and close the 21-point gap to Marquez in the championship standings.
Third in the session was somewhat of a surprise. It was Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro clocking in at 1:40.093. Interestingly Espargaro’s Suzuki GSX-RR had a total of six winglets with three small ones down each side of the front fairing, Suzuki had planned to test them on Monday but Espargaro pushed to use them before. The elder Espargaro brother is continuing to ride on a wave of confidence after his return to the top five in America. On paper the layout of the Jerez circuit should suit the Suzuki GSX-RR more than any of the previous circuits.
Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Ducati Friday, running fourth with a time of 1:40.229 and Valentino Rossi was fifth with a 1:40.282 on his Yamaha.
Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) rounded out the top ten. Pedrosa was the only rider unable to improve his time in FP2, 0.102s slower in the second session.
MotoGP Free Practice 2 from Jerez – Friday, April 22, 2016
| 1 |
99 |
Jorge LORENZO |
SPA |
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
Yamaha |
286.5 |
1’39.555 |
|
| 2 |
93 |
Marc MARQUEZ |
SPA |
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda |
289.5 |
1’39.900 |
0.345 / 0.345 |
| 3 |
41 |
Aleix ESPARGARO |
SPA |
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki |
282.7 |
1’40.093 |
0.538 / 0.193 |
| 4 |
8 |
Hector BARBERA |
SPA |
Avintia Racing |
Ducati |
291.8 |
1’40.229 |
0.674 / 0.136 |
| 5 |
46 |
Valentino ROSSI |
ITA |
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
Yamaha |
285.8 |
1’40.282 |
0.727 / 0.053 |
| 6 |
25 |
Maverick VIÑALES |
SPA |
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki |
286.3 |
1’40.448 |
0.893 / 0.166 |
| 7 |
4 |
Andrea DOVIZIOSO |
ITA |
Ducati Team |
Ducati |
294.0 |
1’40.737 |
1.182 / 0.289 |
| 8 |
45 |
Scott REDDING |
GBR |
OCTO Pramac Yakhnich |
Ducati |
289.4 |
1’40.860 |
1.305 / 0.123 |
| 9 |
26 |
Dani PEDROSA |
SPA |
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda |
289.4 |
1’40.925 |
1.370 / 0.065 |
| 10 |
50 |
Eugene LAVERTY |
IRL |
Aspar Team MotoGP |
Ducati |
292.6 |
1’40.925 |
1.370 |
| 11 |
29 |
Andrea IANNONE |
ITA |
Ducati Team |
Ducati |
295.0 |
1’41.017 |
1.462 / 0.092 |
| 12 |
68 |
Yonny HERNANDEZ |
COL |
Aspar Team MotoGP |
Ducati |
289.2 |
1’41.028 |
1.473 / 0.011 |
| 13 |
35 |
Cal CRUTCHLOW |
GBR |
LCR Honda |
Honda |
287.7 |
1’41.112 |
1.557 / 0.084 |
| 14 |
44 |
Pol ESPARGARO |
SPA |
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
Yamaha |
289.5 |
1’41.167 |
1.612 / 0.055 |
| 15 |
6 |
Stefan BRADL |
GER |
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
Aprilia |
287.7 |
1’41.178 |
1.623 / 0.011 |
| 16 |
38 |
Bradley SMITH |
GBR |
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
Yamaha |
287.3 |
1’41.287 |
1.732 / 0.109 |
| 17 |
76 |
Loris BAZ |
FRA |
Avintia Racing |
Ducati |
285.3 |
1’41.320 |
1.765 / 0.033 |
| 18 |
19 |
Alvaro BAUTISTA |
SPA |
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
Aprilia |
285.0 |
1’41.573 |
2.018 / 0.253 |
| 19 |
51 |
Michele PIRRO |
ITA |
OCTO Pramac Yakhnich |
Ducati |
289.8 |
1’41.841 |
2.286 / 0.268 |
| 20 |
43 |
Jack MILLER |
AUS |
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS |
Honda |
281.4 |
1’41.904 |
2.349 / 0.063 |
| 21 |
53 |
Tito RABAT |
SPA |
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS |
Honda |
281.6 |
1’42.230 |
2.675 / 0.326 |
