MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa Quickest Friday at Aragon

Photo by Gold & Goose

Coming off his first MotoGP victory of the season in San Marino, Honda’s Dani Pedrosa kept his momentum going on the opening day of practice of the Aragon Grand Prix. Pedrosa topped the charts in FP2 Friday on the 3.15-mile Motorland Aragon, pushing his factory Repsol Honda to a time of 1:48.429 to lead the way. It was a good day for Honda as they went 1,2,3 in practice, with Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top three fastest riders Friday.

Returning American rider Nicky Hayden (subbing for the injured Jack Miller) was thrown into the deep end and considering he’d never raced on the new Michelin tires he made some rapid headway. Hayden clocked a 1:50.992 on the Marc VDS Honda and while that was the bottom of the charts in 21st, the time was not far off and improvements are expected as the weekend progresses.

Cooler ambient temperatures than can often be found at MotorLand Aragon greeted the field on the first day, with skies overcast and none of the baking Spanish heat that often beats down on the arid area that plays host to the MotorLand Aragon motorsport complex. With Repsol Honda and Crutchlow clear at the top, it was Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who led the Yamaha charge on Day 1 to end up P4 by the end of play, ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro in another impressive Friday after the Granollers native was quickest on Day 1 at Misano. Silverstone winner Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and 2014 and 2015 MotorLand victor Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) were another Spanish force to be reckoned with at the top of the timesheets, as Viñales just pipped the man he will replace in 2017 to P6.

Three Ducati machines completed the top ten, with home rider Hector Barbera the fastest rider on Borgo Panigale factory equipment as he took his Avintia Racing machine into eighth, with Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the top ten on Friday. Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was just outside the graduation zone to Q2 on Friday with another chance to push through for direct entry in FP3.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team), after ending the morning’s session in P6, announced himself unable to continue riding for the Aragon GP as he continues to suffer with damage to a vertebra sustained in a crash in FP1 at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. As during the San Marino GP on the Riviera di Rimini, his Desmosedici is now entrusted to Ducati test rider Michele Pirro for the remainder of the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon.

GRAN PREMIO MOVISTAR DE ARAGÓN MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2 Classification Alcañiz, Spain – Friday, September 23, 2016