Lorenzo lidera con autoridad la primera jornada de Gran Premio

After Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) ruled FP1 at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana over four tenths clear, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) hit back in the afternoon to take the provisional top spot for much of the second session of the day. In the final few minutes of the day’s track action however, Lorenzo hit back to go quickest once again – six tenths faster than his best of FP1 and two tenths quicker than his 93-numbered rival.

The morning session was cooler, with the afternoon bringing the air and track temperatures up considerably – and the paddock hosted by uninterrupted blue skies.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) moved up the timesheets in the sunnier afternoon session from P6 to end Friday P3 on combined times, with Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) moving up one place from a P5 in FP1 to fourth on Friday as the home crowd hit back to take control at the top.

Winner last time out Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) ended the Spanish dominion at the top in fifth by the end of play, despite the Circuit traditionally being more difficult for the Ducati. Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was another improver as he moved from P7 in FP1 to P6 in the afternoon, just ahead of the second Ducati Team machine of Andrea Iannone in seventh.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi was second quickest on Friday morning despite a problem on an out lap, but was eighth by the end of FP2 and over seven tenths down on teammate Lorenzo’s best. Another Italian followed the ‘Doctor’ home, as Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) ended day one in ninth, after teammate Scott Redding had also been in the top ten in the morning.

Starting slow as he comes back from injury, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was 22nd after his first few laps on track in FP1 – and then ended the session in P12. Gaining confidence and pace, the ‘Baby Samurai’ upped the ante further in FP2, and rounded out the top ten in an incredibly impressive Friday performance despite his ongoing recovery from a broken collarbone sustained in Motegi.

The KTM RC16 ended its debut day down the timesheets, and was three seconds down in FP2 – but within a second of both Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) and Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS). Test rider Mika Kallio is at the helm for the one off appearance ahead of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team lining up full time in 2017, and cut half a second off his best from FP1.

FP3 decides final direct entry to Q2 qualifying on Saturday, with Lorenzo leading the way in blue – for the last time.

MotoGP

1. Jorge LORENZO    SPA    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha        1’30.463
2. Marc MARQUEZ    SPA    Repsol Honda Team           Honda 1’30.710
3. Maverick VIÑALES SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR        Suzuki 1’30.775
4. Pol ESPARGARO    SPA    Monster Yamaha Tech 3      Yamaha        1’31.000
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA  Ducati Team           Ducati           1’31.066
6. Aleix ESPARGARO  SPA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR        Suzuki 1’31.186
7. Andrea IANNONE    ITA   Ducati Team           Ducati 1’31.189
8. Valentino ROSSI     ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha        1’31.257
9. Danilo PETRUCCI    ITA   OCTO Pramac Yakhnich       Ducati 1’31.295
10. Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team           Honda 1’31.358

Moto2

1. Franco MORBIDELLI  ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS         Kalex  1’35.443
2. Takaaki NAKAGAMI   JPN  IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia        Kalex 1’35.568
3. Johann ZARCO           FRA  Ajo Motorsport               Kalex  1’35.754
4. Julian SIMON             SPA  QMMF Racing Team                  Speed Up      1’35.810
5. Danny KENT              GBR  Leopard Racing              Kalex  1’35.877
6. Simone CORSI           ITA    Speed Up Racing           Speed Up      1’35.912
7. Xavier SIMEON           BEL   QMMF Racing Team                 Speed Up      1’35.961
8. Sam LOWES              GBR   Federal Oil Gresini Moto2         Kalex  1’36.039
9. Jonas FOLGER      GER    Dynavolt Intact GP             Kalex  1’36.046
10. Alex MARQUEZ        SPA     Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex  1’36.081

Moto3

1. Enea BASTIANINI   ITA   Gresini Racing Moto3          Honda 1’39.556
2. Juanfran GUEVARA  SPA  RBA Racing Team              KTM    1’39.655
3. Joan MIR               SPA  Leopard Racing                  KTM    1’39.734
4. Brad BINDER         RSA  Red Bull KTM Ajo               KTM    1’39.748
5. Philipp OETTL         GER  Schedl GP Racing               KTM    1’39.793
6. Jorge NAVARRO      SPA  Estrella Galicia 0,0             Honda 1’39.874
7. Fabio QUARTARARO FRA Leopard Racing                  KTM    1’39.876
8. Jorge MARTIN        SPA  Pull & Bear Aspar Team      Mahindra       1’39.881
9. Jakub KORNFEIL     CZE  Drive M7 SIC Racing Team  Honda 1’39.949
10. Gabriel RODRIGO   ARG  RBA Racing Team             KTM    1’39.983