Photography by Gold & Goose
Dani Pedrosa headed his rivals to end the first day of Free Practice at the Dutch TT Assen on top after setting a blistering 1’33.450 during FP2, beating his Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez’s lap record from last season (1’33.462) in the process.
It was a gorgeous day at the TT Circuit Assen, the only track that has been ever-present in the World Championship calendar since it began in 1949, with track temperatures peaking at 104 degrees in FP2. With the forecast for Friday not looking great todays Free Practice sessions took on an extra emphasis as riders tried to secure automatic qualification through to Q2. With this in mind, as the clocked ticked down towards the end of FP2, riders headed out on fresh tires to try and set a flying lap.
Repsol Honda made it a 1-2 on the combined timesheets, as Marc Marquez, who had earlier crashed on his out-lap in FP1, set the second fastest time of the day, just 0.139s behind his teammate.
Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi (+0.202s), using a new frame which his team debuted last week at a private test in Aragon, ended the day in third after he had earlier topped FP1 for the first time since Indianapolis last year.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.249s) was fourth, with Cal Crutchlow (+0.284s) on the CWM LCR Honda the leading Satellite rider in fifth. The man who has won the last four races in a row, Jorge Lorenzo (+0.291s), was in sixth ahead of the second Ducati Team GP15 of Andrea Dovizioso (+0.394s) who ended the day in seventh.
Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made use of the softer option tyre available to him to finish in eighth, ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) and the second GSX-RR of Maverick Viñales who completed the top ten.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith found himself outside of the top ten in 13th, along with Scott Redding (14th) on the Factory spec EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda. Stefan Bradl was the leading Open class rider in 15th, while the Aspar Team MotoGP Honda’s of Eugene Laverty and Nicky Hayden finished in 17th and 18th respectively.
Qualifying continues Friday for a Saturday race.
MotoGP FP2 Results from Assen – June 25, 2015
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.450s [Lap 18/20] 310km/h (Top Speed)
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.589s +0.139s [5/19] 310km/h
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.652s +0.202s [20/21] 306km/h
4. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.699s +0.249s [18/19] 315km/h
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR CWM LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 33.734s +0.284s [16/19] 308km/h
6. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.741s +0.291s [16/17] 308km/h
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.844s +0.394s [19/19] 313km/h
8. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 33.857s +0.407s [18/18] 298km/h
9. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.1) 1m 34.133s +0.683s [19/20] 304km/h
10. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 34.232s +0.782s [18/19] 302km/h
11. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 34.321s +0.871s [14/19] 308km/h
12. Yonny Hernandez COL Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 34.406s +0.956s [18/20] 306km/h
13. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 34.627s +1.177s [19/23] 309km/h
14. Scott Redding GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 34.643s +1.193s [20/20] 302km/h
15. Stefan Bradl GER Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 34.664s +1.214s [18/20] 304km/h
16. Loris Baz FRA Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 34.897s +1.447s [13/18] 300km/h
17. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 1m 35.047s +1.597s [16/21] 300km/h
18. Nicky Hayden USA Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 1m 35.149s +1.699s [15/19] 297km/h
19. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 35.489s +2.039s [15/18] 301km/h
20. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 35.538s +2.088s [20/20] 309km/h
21. Jack Miller AUS CWM LCR Honda (RC213V-RS) 1m 35.646s +2.196s [14/19] 300km/h
22. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 35.663s +2.213s [15/17] 305km/h
23. Alex De Angelis RSM E-Motion IodaRacing (ART) 1m 36.869s +3.419s [12/21] 291km/h
24. Marco Melandri ITA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 37.225s +3.775s [17/17] 300km/h
