Photo by Gold & Goose
Jorge Lorenzo looked very comfortable at his home track Friday and conditions continued were ideal at Free Practice 2 at the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya, round seven of the MotoGP World Championship. Times remained steady for most of the session, the final ten minutes seeing riders fit new tires for a couple of flying laps.
Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) began his quest for three straight wins in a near perfect way, setting a 1’41.712 to top Free Practice 2 and Friday overall.
There were no signs of Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) slowing down after topping Free Practice 1. The Suzuki man the first rider into the 1’41s. A best time of 1’41.954 would see him end the day 0.242s behind Lorenzo.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) proved he still has the speed despite a tough start to the year, wrapping up Friday in third and as the fastest Honda rider. The Brit was 0.299s back on Lorenzo and only 0.057s behind Viñales.
Fourth was a dramatic improvement for Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) who had ended FP1 down in 14th place, his time improving by over a second. Leading the Independent Riders was Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), 0.570s off Lorenzo. Redding was also the leading Ducati rider, both Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) taking a while to get up to speed as they ended eighth and tenth respectively.
0.014s back on Redding was Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), ‘The Doctor’ unconcerned by his position as the times were so close. In contrast, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and his crew have some work to do ahead of qualifying as he ended the day down in ninth and 0.773s off the championship leader.
Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was an early faller in the session, coming off at Turn 1 on his fourth lap. Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) had his second fall of the day, crashing at Turn 3. Both riders were unharmed.
GRAN PREMI MONSTER ENERGY DE CATALUNYA MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2
| 1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 336.1 | 1’41.712 | |
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 336.6 | 1’41.954 | 0.242 / 0.242 |
| 3 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 334.0 | 1’42.011 | 0.299 / 0.057 |
| 4 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 339.3 | 1’42.196 | 0.484 / 0.185 |
| 5 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 339.7 | 1’42.282 | 0.570 / 0.086 |
| 6 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 334.7 | 1’42.296 | 0.584 / 0.014 |
| 7 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 338.9 | 1’42.308 | 0.596 / 0.012 |
| 8 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 339.8 | 1’42.461 | 0.749 / 0.153 |
| 9 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 338.2 | 1’42.485 | 0.773 / 0.024 |
| 10 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 340.8 | 1’42.490 | 0.778 / 0.005 |
| 11 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 335.2 | 1’42.516 | 0.804 / 0.026 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 332.5 | 1’42.539 | 0.827 / 0.023 |
| 13 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 337.5 | 1’42.830 | 1.118 / 0.291 |
| 14 | 50 | Eugene LAVERTY | IRL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 337.8 | 1’42.870 | 1.158 / 0.040 |
| 15 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 335.6 | 1’43.017 | 1.305 / 0.147 |
| 16 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 330.8 | 1’43.292 | 1.580 / 0.275 |
| 17 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 329.3 | 1’43.461 | 1.749 / 0.169 |
| 18 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 334.8 | 1’43.502 | 1.790 / 0.041 |
| 19 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 337.1 | 1’43.621 | 1.909 / 0.119 |
| 20 | 53 | Tito RABAT | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 329.8 | 1’43.648 | 1.936 / 0.027 |
| 21 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 333.6 | 1’44.171 | 2.459 / 0.523 |
