Jorge Lorenzo utilised winglets on his M1 and set the fastest ever lap by a motorbike around Misano ahead of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa at the GP TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
For the fourth race in a row it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez who filled the top two places on the combined timesheets on Friday. This time it was Lorenzo who finished on top of the pile as the Spaniard took advantage of the new track surface and glorious conditions (Track temperatures reached 38˚C) to set the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle around the 4.2km Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Lorenzo set a 1’32.871 in FP2 whilst utilising a medium front and medium rear tyre on a day that saw nearly all riders improve in the warmer conditions of the afternoon. The Majorcan - who is currently second in the championship standings - broke Marquez’s 2013 Pole record in the process (1’32.915). FP2 also saw Lorenzo debut ‘winglets’ on his Yamaha M1 and they seemed to have a positive affect as he immediately went quicker.
Lorenzo ended the day just 0.053s ahead of Marquez, who had earlier topped FP1. Marquez preferred a hard front and hard rear combination for his flying laps at the end of FP2 in a session that once again saw the Spanish duo a cut above the rest.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (+0.387s) completed the provisional front row but was over three-tenths off the pace of his teammate Marquez. Andrea Dovizioso (+0.420s) on the Ducati Team GP15 was in fourth ahead of the man who leads the championship standings by 12 points, Valentino Rossi (+0.598s). Rossi did not sport the ‘winglets’ on his M1, but expect to see them make an appearance in FP3, as he preferred a hard front and rear tyre combination like Marquez.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro (+0.681s) was the leading Satellite rider in 6th, just one-thousandth of a second ahead of the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati of Danilo Petrucci.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished the day in 7th, with Ducati Team’s test rider Michele Pirro (wildcard) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) completing the top ten, despite the latter crashing at the start of FP2.
EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Scott Redding was 11th, with Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in 12th and less than a second behind Lorenzo, while Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) had to settle for 13th after also crashing during the session.
Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) ended the day in 15th as the leading Open class rider, with Jack Miller (LCR Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 19th and 22nd respectively.
Check out the combined MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2 times; FP3 kicks off at 9:55am local time on Saturday in Misano.
Moto2
EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s Rabat smashed Pol Espargaro’s 2013 Pole Record (1’37.666) by setting a 1’37.457 in FP2 to end Friday on top of the combined timesheets at the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. The reigning Moto2™ World Champion set a consistently quick pace in the afternoon, putting in lap after lap under the old record to send out a signal to his rivals. He finished 0.158s ahead of Technomag Racing Interwetten’s Aegerter.
Aegerter - like most riders - improved in the warmer conditions this afternoon to secure second overall. Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassarri (+0.159s) was just one-thousandth of a second further back in third on a day that saw less than a second separate the top 17.
Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes (+0.173s) recovered from a crash at turn 10 in FP1 to end the day fourth fastest ahead of Paginas Amarillas HP40’s rookie Alex Rins (+0.304s) in fifth.
Forward Racing Simone Corsi (+0.353s) had earlier topped FP1 but had to settle for sixth as he could only improve his time by 0.1s in the afternoon. Moto2™ championship leader Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) crashed out of FP2 at turn 4 after setting a time good enough for seventh. Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) and Jonas Folger (AGR Team) completed the top ten. Wildcards Xavi Vierge (Tech 3) and Valentino Rossi’s half-brother Luca Marini (Pons Racing Junior Team) finished the day in 23rd and 28th respectively.
Moto3
Leopard Racing’s Moto3™ World Championship leader Kent made the most of the new track surface and ideal conditions at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to set a 1’43.097. The British rider set his time on his very last lap of the day in FP2 to top the combined timesheets, as a number of the top riders failed to improve their times from FP1 in the afternoon.
Despite the improved grip levels at Misano, Kent’s time was surprisingly three-tenths off Jonas Folger’s 2013 Pole Record (1’42.707) on a day that saw less than a second separate the top ten riders.
Gresini Racing Team Moto3’s Enea Bastianini (+0.036s) topped FP1 with a time that was good enough to secure second overall ahead of Sky Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati (+0.074s), who completed the provisional front row.
Ongetta-Rivacold's Niccolo Antonelli (+0.182s) finished in fourth, ahead of the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo of Miguel Oliveira (+0.233s) and Brad Binder (+0.234s), who were separated by just 0.001s.
Kent’s teammates Efren Vazquez and Hiroki Ono finished in seventh and eighth respectively, with Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) in ninth.
It was an awful day for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team. Jorge Navarro (34th) crashed out of FP1 at turn 12 and was taken to the Cesena Trauma Centre for treatment on an injured shoulder. Then in FP2 his teammate Fabio Quartararo (10th) also crashed, this time at turn 15, and was declared unfit after fracturing his right ankle.
Scotsman John McPhee (SAXOPRINT RTG) ended the day in 19th overall, while wildcard Adrian Gyutai (Turvital di Vitali Ordeo) crashed out of FP2 and finished in 35th.