On a wet opening first day at the Aragón Moto GP it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies who laid down the benchmark in the MotoGP class by setting the fastest time of the day in the afternoon practice session ahead of championship front runners Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. After a near-wasted morning session with a part-wet surface, riders were greeted with rain for their second run out where Spies’ time of just over two minutes relegated Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa into second, who left it late to post his best time. Third place went to Yamaha’s championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, although the Spaniard was almost half a second off the front. He did however claim that he did not push for a fast lap at the end. Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden finished the day fourth fastest, with the American benefiting from the wet condition as his right hand continues to heal from injury. In fifth, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso led the satellite machines, yet was over a second off Spies’ best time. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl ended the day in sixth, after looking strong all session on his RC213V machine. Seventh place went to Dovizioso’s teammate Cal Crutchlow, who had his fastest time cancelled at the end due to cutting the track. In eighth, Ducati’s Valentino Rossi couldn’t capitalise on his prowess in the wet, as a gearbox problem saw him heading out on his second bike, using a less than ideal set-up. He finished ahead of Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham in ninth, who will be pleased at having finished narrowly behind his factory counterpart. The top ten was completed by San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, with the Spaniard hoping to try out some new Showa suspension before qualifying. Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet put in a solid performance to finish as top CRT machine in 12th, ahead of his teammate Aleix Espargaró. Turn 1 turned out to be a tricky spot for many of the riders, with numerous running off at the end of the straight as they pushed to improve their lap times. The morning session saw only nine riders head out on track as the mixed damp-dry conditions once again made it near impossible to find out anything about bike set-up. See the original post... |