2013 COTA MotoGP FP2 Result: Marquez Still On Top; Pedrosa Closes In

Submitted by Mike Lewis on

Marc Marquez did nothing to change the impression that he is the man to beat at COTA with a half-second advantage on the second-fastest rider. That rider, Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, narrowed the gap with Marquez as temperatures climbed and lap times dropped. A surprising third fastest by Stephan Bradl indicates there's something about the track that agrees with Honda. But what also seems to work is additional track time. All of the top riders today spent time at a COTA test earlier in the year. Even so, Marquez's best time today was two seconds slower than his fast lap from testing here in March at the new, 5.5 km (3.4 mi.) circuit near Austin, Texas.

Results:

Pos. No. Rider Bike Time Diff. / Prev.
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 2'05.031  
2 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 2'05.585 0.554 / 0.554
3 6 Stefan BRADL Honda 2'06.173 1.142 / 0.588
4 99 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha 2'06.637 1.606 / 0.464
5 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 2'06.868 1.837 / 0.231
6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha 2'06.899 1.868 / 0.031
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 2'07.236 2.205 / 0.337
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda 2'07.256 2.225 / 0.020
9 69 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati 2'07.699 2.668 / 0.443
10 11 Ben SPIES Ducati 2'08.034 3.003 / 0.335
11 41 Aleix ESPARGARO ART 2'08.299 3.268 / 0.265
12 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ ART 2'09.374 4.343 / 1.075
13 38 Bradley SMITH Yamaha 2'09.424 4.393 / 0.050
14 14 Randy DE PUNIET ART 2'09.739 4.708 / 0.315
15 29 Andrea IANNONE Ducati 2'09.860 4.829 / 0.121
16 17 Karel ABRAHAM ART 2'10.411 5.380 / 0.551
17 71 Claudio CORTI FTR Kawasaki 2'10.720 5.689 / 0.309
18 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA FTR 2'11.183 6.152 / 0.463
19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ioda-Suter 2'11.614 6.583 / 0.431
20 70 Michael LAVERTY PBM 2'11.828 6.797 / 0.214
21 52 Lukas PESEK Ioda-Suter 2'12.230 7.199 / 0.402
22 67 Bryan STARING FTR Honda 2'12.462 7.431 / 0.232
23 5 Colin EDWARDS FTR Kawasaki 2'12.504 7.473 / 0.042
24 8 Hector BARBERA FTR 2'12.573 7.542 / 0.069
25 79 Blake YOUNG APR 2'13.158 8.127 / 0.585
  44 Mike BARNES BCL 2'16.169 11.138 / 3.011

 

Round Number: 
2
2013
MotoGP
Austin, Texas
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Comments

donjigweed replied on

Marquez is pretty awesome. Time will tell if he's comparable to Stoner. Looks to be so far though. The fact that Bradl is 3rd right now gives you some idea of the advantage the Honda has at this track. One thing is for sure though, Honda need to finally throw in the towel on Pedrosa, the guy just doesn't have the killer instinct you need to be world champion. Getting beat by your rookie teammate on his maiden premier class race is just the latest example. Give him the sack and put Crutchlow on the other Honda, it's their best bet, and Cal is certainly deserving.

Patcasp replied on

Marquez already has it won. NO ONE is gonna find 2 seconds this weekend.
Congrats Marc!

pooch replied on

As always, racing is a far different matter to testing and practice... Marquez is far from a dead certainty. don't underestimate the hungriness any of the aliens at this point, everyone got something to prove here.

Vlad Drac replied on

Just got back from the circuit. WOW! It is enormous! It's so dynamic, undulating, technical and beautiful.

I recommend all who can attend next year (who couldn't this year) to do so.

Those tight hairpins exploits Honda's advantage. Safe pick would be Marquez for sure, but there's still a full day and then of course the race where anything can happen (Rossi proved in Qatar).

I'm still in awe of the circuit.....

TheBaron replied on

At Qatar I am sure Dani was still suffering from that neck muscle problem he had in testing at Jerez. Also, as FernUt46 points out, the track temp at Austin in these two practice sessions was lower than in the tests there a few weeks ago. By the way, did the Yamaha teams get their equipment dried out? Seems strange that fire control sprinklers could be on for so long without security staff taking a look...