Submitted by David Emmett on
Jorge Lorenzo put in a typically dominant display at Le Mans, taking top spot in the second session of free practice by a comfortable margin. The Movistar Yamaha rider was quick throughout, but upped his pace in the final ten minutes, as the entire field headed out for an assault on the top ten places, and passage through to Q2.
Andrea Iannone took second spot, the Factory Ducati rider pushing hard at the end of the session, dislodging Marc Marquez from behind Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider was fast for much of the session, though he could not match the scorching pace of Lorenzo. Pol Espargaro made good use of Marquez, the Monster Tech 3 rider fixing on Marquez as a target, and using him to up his pace, taking fourth spot on the timesheets at a track he likes.
Espargaro's fourth demoted Andrea Dovizioso to fifth, the Factory Ducati rider holding off a late assault by Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales. The two Suzuki riders were close to Dovizioso, but could not go faster than him. Fastest man of the morning Dani Pedrosa ended the session in eighth, nine tenths of a second off the pace of Lorenzo. Hector Barbera made the leap into ninth on the Avintia Ducati, just nudging Valentino Rossi into tenth. Rossi had some worrying moments at the end of FP2, as he saw rider after rider sneak ahead of him, but he held on to tenth, and automatic passage into Q2.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous |
1 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'32.830 | ||
2 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | 1'33.169 | 0.339 | 0.339 |
3 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'33.313 | 0.483 | 0.144 |
4 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1'33.406 | 0.576 | 0.093 |
5 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'33.574 | 0.744 | 0.168 |
6 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1'33.595 | 0.765 | 0.021 |
7 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1'33.613 | 0.783 | 0.018 |
8 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1'33.748 | 0.918 | 0.135 |
9 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'33.951 | 1.121 | 0.203 |
10 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'33.974 | 1.144 | 0.023 |
11 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'34.050 | 1.220 | 0.076 |
12 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'34.053 | 1.223 | 0.003 |
13 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 1'34.083 | 1.253 | 0.030 |
14 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1'34.306 | 1.476 | 0.223 |
15 | 76 | Loris Baz | Ducati | 1'34.364 | 1.534 | 0.058 |
16 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | 1'34.425 | 1.595 | 0.061 |
17 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'34.531 | 1.701 | 0.106 |
18 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'34.656 | 1.826 | 0.125 |
19 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | 1'34.742 | 1.912 | 0.086 |
20 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Honda | 1'34.789 | 1.959 | 0.047 |
21 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1'35.089 | 2.259 | 0.300 |
Comments
Rossi 1.144 behind Lorenzo?
After Jerez, I'm surprised by Rossi's gap to Lorenzo. Interesting. Looking forward to the battle in Q2!
Surprising indeed. ...
In that sector 3 he's struggling like hell! I guess - hope!- it's just a matter of finding the right setting... still has he ever been this far off in FP2? And the speed ! He is 7 or 8 km slower than JL not to mention the Ducatis. Could it be the new tyre brought in by Michelin? David we need the round up please !
.8 after FP2 in Jerez. Doesn
.8 after FP2 in Jerez. Doesn't seem like Friday's are going to be very informative anymore. Marquez seemed up and down and was barely shown either in the afternoon session so it's hard to know if he's comfortable or not.
21 riders on track, multiple long shots of Lorenzo's pit board guy putting a letter in. Surely it's time for a different directing policy.
Rossi at Jerez
If I recall correctly, Rossi and/or his team explicitly said that they'd opted to focus on race set up throughout all four free practices at Jerez rather than chasing fast laps. Avoid Q1, but otherwise disregard where he ended up on the sheets and get the bike dialed in for Sunday.
With all of the unfamiliar variables at play this season, this seems like a wise choice. Rossi's dominant victory at the last round at least confirms that it was the right strategy in Jerez. I won't be surprised if something similar is happening here, and like you, I'm not putting too much stock in Friday's results. At least not this season.
True
At Jerez though, Rossi was on it from FP1. Much tougher when you're not on pace from day 1.
Rossi was also...
... the only rider who did not try the new softer carcass rear tire. He himself admitted that tire was unlikely to give him the boost to run with the leaders during FP1-2, but was probably worth some improvement.
Rossi day one
Yes, but it is always difficult to judge Rossi's weekend based on his first day pace.
FP3?
did something change and FP3 is not an oppurtunity to set a lap time in the top 10? or is weather a factor this weekend?
Le Mans, Silverstone, Assen
Tracks like Le Mans and Silverstone (especially) have major temperature differences between the morning and afternoon sessions. Difference between track temperatures for FP1 and FP2 was officially 10°C, which is a lot. So conditions are ideal on Friday afternoon, and may be a little too cold in the morning to be able to improve times.
They will definitely try, but it's much harder at Le Mans than it is at Barcelona or Mugello, with much higher temperatures in the morning.