Valencia GP, Friday round-up: MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3

 In MotoGP, News

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MotoGP

 

The MotoGP™ FP2 session saw Marc Marquez on the pace with Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro also amongst the top three. Marquez was also the fastest ride on the combined timesheets from FP1 and FP2, in front of Jorge Lorenzo and Dovizioso.

Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) time of 1’31.296 from the morning session was the fastest of the day, with Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) second best overall courtesy of a 1’31.489 lap. Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was third fastest on Friday courtesy of his best lap from FP2, which was less than 0.1s off Lorenzo’s pace.

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) were both in Friday’s top five, which featured a real mix of manufacturers and technical packages.

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) completed the top ten.

Wild card Randy de Puniet (Team Suzuki MotoGP) improved by over a second towards the end of the FP2 session, before a technical fault with the GSX-RR saw him pull over at trackside with smoke pouring from engine. He was 19th overall.

 

Moto2

 

In the Moto2™ class at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, the top three riders were Johann Zarco, Thomas Luthi and Tito Rabat across the Friday practices.

Zarco (AirAsia Caterham) led the way in FP2 and FP1. A 1’35.264s lap in the afternoon put the French rider top of the combined timesheets, despite a crash towards the end of FP2. Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) followed just behind, second overall with a 1’35.364s from FP2. The top three was completed by Moto2 World Champion Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team).

Both Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Paginas Armarillas HP 40) were in the top five based on their FP2 times. The pair were both within 0.7s of Zarco.

Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert), Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Luis Salom (Paginas Armarillas HP 40) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) all improved their times in FP2. Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) completed the top ten, having set his best time of the day in FP1.

 

Moto3

 

As Friday’s Moto3™ sessions concluded at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, Niccolo Antonelli led the way from his rivals in FP2, with title candidates Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) also towards the business end of the timesheet.

Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) led in the morning session with a 1’40.338 lap and improved to 1’39.647 to stay on top in FP2. On the first day of the title showdown weekend Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) trailed the Italian by 0.201s, whilst standings leader Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was 0.269s off Antonelli’s pace.

Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) and Andrea Migno (Mahindra Racing) were both inside the top five, around three tenths off P1.

Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46), Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing), John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG) and Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) completed the top ten.

Wild card Albert Arenas (Calvo Team) was an early crasher, high siding out of Turn 6. Zulfahmi Khairuddin fell at Turn 2 with ten minutes of the session to go. Both riders were OK.

Source: motogp.com

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