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vendredi 18 mai 2018

moto GP : 16 in a second: Dovi in front as battle commences in France

Ducati lead Honda and Yamaha on the opening day in Le Mans, with Rossi in P3

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), fresh from signing a new contract with the Bologna factory, was the quickest man on the opening day at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, setting a new circuit record with a 1:31.936 – the only rider to delve into the 1:31’s. FP1 and World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) ended the day in second, 0.168 behind, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a further 0.075 seconds back on board his M1, the ‘Doctor’ ended the day P3 overall.

Despite track temperatures rising from 19 degrees to over 40 degrees between FP1 and FP2, there were a whole host of crashes early in the session. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), LCR Honda Idemitsu rider Takaaki Nakagami and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) all fell, riders ok.

Highlights: Dovi leads Marquez and Yamaha 18/05/2018

Andrea Dovizioso celebrated his contract renewal by finishing ahead of Marquez and Rossi. The top 16 are all within just 1 second

Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) ended the day fourth overall, the Spaniard was third in FP1, but left it late to jump up into the top five in FP2. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was fifth in front of his home crowd, with the Frenchman was also fifth in FP1, confirming his solid pace in Le Mans.

Alma Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller was sixth on the combined Free Practice timesheets, the Australian was in and around the top eight throughout FP2 and looks good for an automatic Q2 spot after ending FP1 in P12. Espargaro had a good showing on KTM, despite his early crash. He ended the day seventh quickest, building on his P10 in FP1.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), sporting a new aerodynamic fairing in FP2, jumped up to eighth on his final lap to grab a provisional Q2 spot. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) impressed again to finish ninth in FP2, getting himself into the top ten after ending the morning session in P14. Rounding out the top ten was Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), the Spaniard finished eighth this morning, dropping two positions in the afternoon.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), who was inside the top three for most of the session, crashed on his final run to end the day outside the top ten in P11, after a flurry of quick times from the riders on fresh rubber – rider ok.

With less than a second covering the top 16, the battle to make it into Q2 should be very interesting tomorrow morning, with FP3 getting underway at 09:55 local time (GMT +2). Click here for the full results!

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vendredi 20 mai 2016

Iannone lance son offensive sur le Mugello / Iannone ignites at Ducati’s home to top FP2

L’Italien a bouclé la seconde séance d’essais du Grand Prix TIM d’Italie à une demi-seconde de la concurrence.

Sur une piste sèche et sous le soleil après avoir dû rouler sur piste mouillée vendredi matin au Mugello, Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) a conclu la seconde séance d’essais sur un impressionnant chrono de 1’47.696 qui lui conférait 0.461s d’avance sur Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).

Le Champion du Monde en titre et vainqueur de l’édition 2015 du GP TIM d’Italie avait occupé la première position à plusieurs reprises au long de la séance mais a finalement été clairement battu pour l’Italien, seul pilote à être passé sous la barre des 1’48 et auteur de la pole position au Mugello en 2015.

Inscrit en wildcard après avoir déjà disputé trois Grands Prix cette saison, Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) s’est classé troisième, à près d’un dixième de seconde de Lorenzo, qu’il suivait sur son meilleur tour, et confirmait son potentiel sur une piste où il roule régulièrement en tant que pilote d’essais de Ducati.

Viñales: “I can still feel the emotions of 10 days ago'

Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), qui a brièvement occupé la tête du classement, et Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

Dixième, Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) était le dernier pilote à moins d’une seconde (+0,774s) du temps de référence, en étant à moins de deux dixièmes du Top 5.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) et Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) ont respectivement fini aux onzième, douzième et treizième places et tenteront de faire mieux samedi matin afin s’assurer une place dans le Top 10, synonyme de qualification directe en Q2.

Contraint à s’arrêter en bord de piste en début de séance, Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) a perdu un temps précieux et a terminé en dernière position.

Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) a pour sa part subi une grosse chute et terminé dix-neuvième, devant les deux pilotes de l’Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Álvaro Bautista et Stefan Bradl, et Baz.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

Times improve by over five seconds as Mugello dries, Iannone, Lorenzo and Pirro ending Friday as the three quickest riders.

With only 14 riders having set times in Free Practice 1, the second session of the day was actually the first time on track at Mugello for several riders. The start of the Gran Premio d'Italia TIM had been hit by rain, but there were no such issues in Free Practice 2. Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) had been the fastest rider in FP1 but his 1’54.199 was quickly demolished.

All the MotoGP™ World Championship riders were able to improve their times considerably in the session. Quickest of them all was Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) who set a 1’47.696 to end 0.461s ahead of second place. He might be off to Team Suzuki Ecstar in 2017, but Ducati and Iannone still have business to finish in 2016. Mugello in 2015 was the scene of Iannone’s first MotoGP™ World Championship pole position and he could easily achieve a second premier class pole if his form continues.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was immediately up to speed after sitting out Free Practice 1. He set a 1’48.157 to edge within half a second of Iannone. Lorenzo once again tried a new version of his helmet with an extended rear section.

Wildcard Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) was again up towards the sharp end, ending as the third fastest rider of the day. A slipstream behind Lorenzo assisted his time, but Pirro often produces his best results in front of the hoards of Italians who fill the hills of Mugello.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) concluded Friday as the fourth fastest rider, just over a tenth off Jorge Lorenzo. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the leading Honda in fifth. Starting somewhat down the order is not unusual for Marquez who has often struggled at the circuit, having won just once in the premier class.

The distance from second to sixth was nail bitingly close, never more than a tenth of a second splitting two riders. 0.644s off Iannone’s time, but only two tenths from second, Valentino Rossi () started his home round well and is already up to speed with his rivals.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were all inside the top ten. Despite Iannone’s considerable lead, they all managed to end within a second of his time.

Having just announced his contract extension with Honda, Dani Pedrosa’s (Repsol Honda Team) weekend got off to a less than ideal start as he finished 11th. The Italian GP is also Pedrosa's 250th Grand Prix start, the Spaniard aiming to celebrate the achievement with a bang. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) also had a rough start to the weekend with the 13th fastest time. Fortunately conditions are looking good for Saturday and Sunday, giving both a chance to improve.

Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) fell at Turn 1 with a little over 17 minutes of the session remaining. He was unharmed.

Mugello will again be filled with the terrific sound of the 1000cc MotoGP™ bikes at 09:55 Local Time when Free Practice 3 begins.

Times and results from the second session of the day can be seen here.

vendredi 6 mai 2016

Zarco prend les devants en Moto2™

À domicile, le Champion du Monde en titre s’est mis en confiance en signant le meilleur temps du vendredi au circuit Bugatti.

Sixième à trois dixièmes de seconde de Simone Corsi (Speed Up) au terme de la première séance d’essais, Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) a haussé le ton vendredi après-midi au Mans pour grimper au sommet de la feuille de temps, avec cependant tout juste 0.065s d’avance sur Tom Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten).

Le Champion du Monde en titre tentera ce week-end de devenir le sixième Français à s’imposer au Mans en Grand Prix mais devra se méfier du Suisse, vainqueur du Monster Energy Grand Prix de France en 2015 et à quatre reprises au total dans sa carrière, ainsi que de Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP), qui s’est classé troisième (+0.187s) et peut désormais pleinement se concentrer sur sa saison 2016 après avoir été confirmé chez Tech3 en MotoGP™ pour 2017 juste avant l’ouverture du GP.

Derrière le trio de tête, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) a terminé à 0.488s de Zarco tandis que Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) et Álex Rins (Páginas Amarillas HP 40) ont été moins rapides que le matin et ont fini cinquième et sixième sur le classement combiné, à une demi-seconde du Français.

Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Marcel Schrötter (AGR Team) et Xavier Siméon (QMMF Racing) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10 à l'issue de la seconde séance d’essais.

Leader du classement général avec respectivement dix et seize longueurs d’avance sur Rins et Zarco, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) est tombé dans le virage n°7 et a bouclé la journée avec le treizième temps, derrière son compatriote Danny Kent (Leopard Racing) et le Malaisien Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia).

Le Français Lucas Mahias devait participer en wildcard sur la TransFIORmers de Christian Boudinot mais a finalement dû renoncer après s’être blessé à trois vertèbres en tombant à Imola en WorldSBK le week-end précédent.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

vendredi 6 novembre 2015

Lorenzo : « Je me sens fort » / Rossi : « Je suis plus détendu une fois sur la moto » / Lorenzo: “I feel strong” /Rossi: “When I‘m riding I‘m more relaxed”

Le Majorquin s’est montré confiant après avoir dominé les essais libres de vendredi à Valence.

Face à la possibilité de remporter un troisième titre mondial lors de la dernière manche de la saison 2015, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a commencé son week-end à Valence de la meilleure des manières puisqu’il a réalisé le meilleur temps du vendredi, en 1’31.111, et a en fait bouclé plusieurs tours en 1’31.1.

Avec sept points de moins que son coéquipier Valentino Rossi, qui partira dernier, le Majorquin devra viser le sommet du podium pour maximiser ses chances de remporter le titre et ne pouvait guère mieux commencer son week-end qu’en s’installant en tête de la feuille de temps.

Jorge Lorenzo :

« La journée avait bien commencé et nous avons ensuite bien amélioré la moto l’après-midi. Cette moto fonctionne vraiment bien et je me sens fort, bien concentré. Je pilote bien mais la moto fonctionne surtout très bien, elle me permet de garder un rythme élevé, même sur pneu usé, et je suis donc assez content du début de ce week-end. »

Valentino Rossi a eu l’occasion de rapidement mettre les évènements de Sepang derrière vendredi à Valence.

Rossi : « Je suis plus détendu une fois sur la moto »

Pénalisé et contraint de prendre le départ de la dernière manche de la saison MotoGP™ du fond de la grille, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) doit uniquement se concentrer sur la course de dimanche ce week-end au Grand Prix Motul de Valence et a profité du vendredi pour évaluer ses options de pneus et déjà faire un choix.

Bien qu’il ait terminé la journée en cinquième position, à 0.364s de son coéquipier et rival, Jorge Lorenzo, l’Italien était plutôt satisfait de ses performances et était aussi ravi d’être de retour en piste et de se concentrer sur son pilotage après avoir été au centre des polémiques depuis le GP de Malaisie.

Valentino Rossi :

« Quand je roule je suis plus relâché et je suis assez content de ces deux premières séances parce que mon rythme n’était déjà pas mauvais ce matin et que j’ai aussi été compétitif sur pneu usé, ce qui est très important pour la course. Je suis aussi content que nous ayons essayé des choses différentes qui m’ont fait gagner en rythme cet après-midi et améliorer mes chronos. J’ai utilisé des pneus durs, ça ne s’est pas mal passé puis je suis passé sur le pneu tendre pour comparer et faire le bon choix pour dimanche. Il est vrai que nous devons décider de notre stratégie maintenant parce que je pense qu’il sera difficile d’utiliser les quinze minutes de qualifications comme une séance d’essais et je pense que je pourrai peut-être suivre la procédure normale. »

Jorge Lorenzo ends the first day of #TheGrandFinale feeling confident having topped practice.

The Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana will likely be one of the toughest and most important races of Jorge Lorenzo’s life. He has the chance to take his fifth world title and has started the weekend in the best possible way: leading Friday practice. A time of 1’31.111 saw the Movistar Yamaha rider lead the day by 0.139s from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda). It’s not just one lap pace that Lorenzo is confident with, his Yamaha M1 handling well and allowing him to push hard over many laps. Hot conditions limited the lap times somewhat, but the Majorcan was unconcerned.

Lorenzo’s goal for the weekend and the race is victory, focusing on his own race as opposed to worrying about what title rival and teammate Valentino Rossi is doing. The pair head into Sunday’s race with Rossi seven points ahead, even with the Italian starting from the rear Lorenzo will have to race hard. Both the Repsol Honda bikes look set to be a stiff challenge for Lorenzo and Yamaha.

Jorge Lorenzo: “The day started positively and we improved the bike a lot in the afternoon. The bike is working really well and I feel strong, with good concentration. I‘m riding well, but the bike, to be honest, is working very well for me to keep a high pace, even with old tyres, so I‘m very happy about t e beginning of the weekend.”

It was straight back to work for Valentino Rossi in Valencia having put the events of Sepang behind him.

With the last round of the 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship underway, Valentino Rossi has become focused entirely on Sunday’s race. The Movistar Yamaha rider got straight to work in FP1, beginning the day with a run of 15 laps. The Doctor set a series of competitive times in the mid to low 1’32s before dropping into the 1’31s in the final laps. Rossi ended the first session in fifth position and was confident with how he was riding. Knowing he would start from the back of the grid has removed a lot of pressure from Rossi’s shoulders and the experienced Italian is riding more relaxed.

The afternoon session was also spent with the majority of time on track; Rossi took an early lead but was shuffled back as other riders fitted a soft tyre. Several tweaks to setting followed and Rossi was able to improve his time to a 1’31.475 as his best time of Friday. This placed the Italian in fifth overall. Tyre choice is still unknown, Rossi comparing both the hard and soft options during FP2 to give himself and the team more data. Rossi will be able to participate in both Q1 and Q2 as normal on Saturday but will then be moved to the back of the grid for Sunday due to having a total of four penalty points.

Valentino Rossi: “When I‘m riding I‘m more relaxed and I‘m quite happy about these two first practices, because already this morning my pace was not so bad and I was also quite competitive with the used tyre, which is very important for the race. I‘m also happy that in the afternoon we tried something different that made me increase my rhythm and improve my lap times. I used the hard tyres and it wasn‘t so bad and after I tried the soft to make a comparison and make the right choice for Sunday. It‘s true that we have to decide our strategy now, because I think it will be difficult to use the 15 minutes of qualifying like a free practice, so I think maybe I can do the normal procedure anyway.”

samedi 24 octobre 2015

Lorenzo signe le meilleur temps du vendredi à Sepang / Lorenzo strikes first in Sepang

Le Majorquin est parvenu à passer devant les pilotes Repsol Honda lors d’une chaude après-midi en Malaisie.

Suite à ce que Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ait dominé la première séance d’essais du Grand Prix Shell de Malaisie vendredi matin à Sepang, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a été le pilote le plus rapide l’après-midi et a surtout réussi à battre le chrono de son compatriote de près de deux dixièmes de seconde pour finir la journée en tête.

Pedrosa était cependant lui aussi en progrès et finissait à seulement à 0.047s du Majorquin tandis que Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) se maintenait dans le Top 3, à 0.226s du leader.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) a profité de l’après-midi pour se rapprocher des premières places et finir quatrième, à un rien de Márquez et malgré une chute dans le virage 8. Son compatriote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté été l’un des quelques pilotes qui n’ont pas amélioré leurs meilleurs temps personnels l’après-midi et a terminé la journée à plus de six dixièmes de son coéquipier, qu’il devance de onze points au classement général avant l’avant-dernière manche de la saison.

Tombé le matin, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) a démontré une certaine compétitivité l’après-midi et a pris la sixième place sur le classement combiné, devant Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing).

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a impressionné et a fini onzième, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ainsi que les pilotes du team Monster Yamaha Tech3, Pol Espargaró et Bradley Smith. L’Espagnol était de loin le premier pilote Open tandis que son coéquipier Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont pris les 21e et 22 positions, respectivement, sur le classement combiné.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement.

Jorge Lorenzo ends Friday on top of the combined timesheets to lay down a marker to his title rival Rossi who finished in fifth.

In the hot and humid conditions (Track temp. 47˚C) at the Sepang International Circuit it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who ended the day on top to send out a message to his title rival Valentino Rossi. All of the talk before the riders took to the track was about Rossi’s comments revolving around Marc Marquez from the Press Conference, but it was Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate Lorenzo that stole the show amongst the haze at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Lorenzo had played second fiddle to Dani Pedrosa in the morning’s FP1 session, but after spending most of FP2 working on race pace, the Spaniard stuck in some fresh rubber to set a 2’00.246. This time was less than half a second off Marc Marquez’s 2014 Pole Record (1’59.791) as the riders hit the ground running at Sepang due to the fact all of the teams get to test at the circuit during preseason. Lorenzo’s time was 0.669s faster than his title rival Rossi as he struck an important psychological blow in the epic 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship title fight.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had been quickest out of the blocks in FP1 but found himself 0.047s off the pace of Lorenzo at the end of the day in second overall. The Spaniard will be keen to be involved in the fight for the race win after having missed out on all the fun of the podium battle at Phillip Island.

His teammate Marc Marquez (+0.226s) responded to Rossi’s criticism on Friday by ending the day third fastest overall. The reigning MotoGP™ champion took his 50th GP victory Phillip Island last time out and won last year’s race at Sepang from pole.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.240s) followed up his podium at Phillip Island by ending the day fourth fastest despite crashing at turn 8 in FP2. Following his crash the Italian immediately went out and set his quickest time of the day, just 0.014s further back from Marquez at the circuit where his GP15 made its debut during the preseason test.

Rossi found himself down in fifth overall after an issue with his first choice bike at the end of FP2 prevented him from setting a flying lap on fresh rubber. Rossi, who has won six times in the premier class at Sepang, failed to improve on his time from the morning session but has shown before that he can recover from a poor Friday to be competitive come the race. The ‘Doctor’ currently leads Lorenzo by 11 points in the standings and has his first chance to lift that elusive tenth title if results go his way on Sunday.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.793s) carried on his run of good form that has seen him record three top ten finishes in a row to end the day in sixth as the leading Satellite rider. Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro had expected his GSX-RR to struggle at Sepang due to the two long straights and its lack of acceleration, but he finished the day in seventh overall.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) recovered from his worst finish of the season at the Australian GP to finish in 8th, with Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) completing the top ten.

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 11th, while the man who finished in sixth at the Australian GP, Maverick Viñales, was over 1.5s off the pace in 12th. British rider Bradley Smith on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 struggled on the opening day and finished down in 14th.

Irishman Eugene Laverty was 16th, 0.001s ahead of his American teammate Nicky Hayden in 17th, while Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) ended the session in 20th.

Check out the combined results from MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 9:55am local time on Saturday.

vendredi 16 octobre 2015

Márquez réalise le meilleur temps du vendredi en Australie / Marquez sets pace on opening day at Phillip Island

Le Champion du Monde en titre est passé devant Lorenzo lors de la seconde d’essais à Phillip Island.

Bien que la pluie se soit manifestée à la mi-journée, les pilotes de la catégorie reine auront échappé aux intempéries vendredi à Phillip Island pour l’ouverture du Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie.

Après avoir été distancé par Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) de plus de trois dixièmes de seconde le matin, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a rattrapé son compatriote l’après-midi et s’est emparé de la première position sur le classement combiné, en ayant été 0.050s plus rapide que le Majorquin. Désormais sans aucune possibilité de jouer le titre, le Champion du Monde visera ce week-end sa première victoire en MotoGP™ à Phillip Island, qui est avec le Motegi l’un des deux seuls circuits où il n’ait pas encore gagné en catégorie reine.

Viñales: “I’m struggling to find good confidence”

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a fait très bonne impression sur la GSX-R pour rejoindre ses deux compatriotes dans le Top 3, à seulement 0.135s de Márquez. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) ont réalisé des chronos très proches de celui du rookie espagnol et ont terminé quatrième et cinquième, à 0.161s et 0.196s du leader.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), vainqueur dimanche dernier au Motegi, s’est classé sixième, à quasiment trois dixièmes de seconde de la cinquième position et devant Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).

Neuvième à 0.658s de Márquez, Rossi dispose de dix-huit points d’avance avant l’épreuve australienne, la première des trois dernières de la saison, et devra gagner en rythme samedi matin pour espérer se qualifier bien plus près de Lorenzo, son rival pour le titre mondial. À noter toutefois que l'Italien n'a pas utilisé de pneu neuf en fin de séance, contrairement à bon nombre de ses concurrents.

La dixième position est revenue à Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) tandis que Jack Miller (LCR Honda), onzième, a été le pilote Open le plus rapide et a été confirmé chez Marc VDS Racing pour 2016 avant l’ouverture du week-end.

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing), qui participe à son 200e Grand Prix ce week-end, et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont respectivement pris les 20e et 23e positions.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

Marc Marquez ended Friday’s practice fastest ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Maverick Viñales, with Valentino Rossi in ninth.

Repsol Honda’s Marquez had played second fiddle to Lorenzo in the morning’s damp FP1 session at the Pramac Australian Grand Prix. Then, as the track dried and the sun came out (Track temp. 35˚C) in the afternoon it was the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion who ended the day on top. Marquez set a 1’29.383 to finish just five-hundredths of a second ahead of Lorenzo on the combined timesheet’s, although he was still some way off the Pole Record set in 2014 (J. Lorenzo – 1’27.899).

Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo (+0.050s) began his bid at closing down the 18-point gap in the standings to his teammate Rossi by topping FP1, before having to settle for second overall. The Spaniard improved by over half a second in FP2, in a session that saw the top 13 riders separated by less than nine-tenths of a second.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales recovered from crashing out of the race at Motegi to complete the provisional front row, just 0.135s off the pace of Marquez. Viñales took advantage of the sweet handling of his GSX-RR to finish ahead of Andrea Iannone (+0.161s) on the Ducati Team GP15. The Italian is looking to bounce back strongly at Phillip Island after his first DNF of the season at the Japanese GP due to technical issues.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.196s) was the leading Satellite rider in fifth as less than two tenths of second separated the top five riders. Brit Crutchlow clearly likes the Australian track as he recorded only his second MotoGP™ podium at Phillip Island in 2012 and crashed out of a comfortable second in last year’s race on the very last lap.

Race winner at Motegi Dani Pedrosa (+0.493s) was further 0.297s back in sixth, ahead of Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Bradley Smith in eighth.

Championship leader Rossi found himself down in ninth, 0.658s off the pace of Marquez, but the ‘Doctor’ did not switch to a fresh set of tyres at the end of FP2 like the majority of the riders. The Italian, who will equal the all-time record of 328 GP starts on Sunday, preferring instead to work on his pace on used tyres, instead of worrying about setting a flying lap.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed the top ten while Jack Miller (LCR Honda), who had earlier finished fifth during FP1, was the leading Open class rider in eleventh, just 0.057s ahead of Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 12th. Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso struggled throughout the day, and found himself down in 14th, over a second off the pace of Pole man Marquez. Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) ended the day in 17th, ahead of Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 18th.

Karel Abraham’s replacement in the AB Motoracing Team, Anthony West, was 24th fastest. Damian Cudlin (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), who is substituting for the injured Alex De Angelis, was in 25th.

Check out the combined times from FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 10:00 local time on Saturday in Phillip Island.

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