Marquez throws down the gauntlet on first day at Aragon

2013-09-27 10:11
MotoGP™ World Championship leader Marc Marquez took over at the top of the combined Friday timesheet with a strong performance in FP2 at the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragon, ahead of fellow Honda riders Stefan Bradl and Dani Pedrosa.

Repsol Honda rookie Marquez was just over 0.5s off the record pace for the MotorLand Aragon track with a 1’48.987, which was 0.132s better than LCR Honda MotoGP man Bradl, and 0.267s faster than teammate Pedrosa’s best effort.

World Champion Jorge Lorenzo had stamped his mark on the FP1 timesheet with the best lap of the morning and improved his time in the afternoon, although his best FP2 time only gave him fourth, which he put down to an issue with braking. GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista had a spill at turn 8 which complicated the end of his session, but he still registered a top-five lap time as he worked on rear suspension settings.

Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso all finished behind Bautista, whilst the top ten was completed by Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro and Dovizioso’s teammate Nicky Hayden.

Yonny Hernandez ran off track on the Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati on one occasion as he became more accustomed to the bike, but improved to 14th in FP2 from 18th in FP1.

Luca Scassa has come into the Cardion AB Motoracing team this weekend to substitute for the injured Karel Abraham, who is out for the remainder of 2013. He ended the day 21st overall. Damian Cudlin furthered his PBM MotoGP experience by rounding out the timesheet in 24th position.


Moto2™

Italtrans Racing Team’s Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami set a late best time to lead the first day of Moto2™ practice at the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón, with Tuenti HP 40’s Esteve Rabat second and Aspar Team’s Nico Terol third on the timesheets.

Nakagami produced a best effort of 1’54.325 to lead Rabat by just 0.032s, with Terol’s best lap placing him 0.239s behind the man from the Far East. Johann Zarco of the Came IodaRacing Project was fourth in the session and Marc VDS Racing Team’s championship leader Scott Redding was fifth, but the combined FP1 & FP2 times saw them end the day fifth and eighth respectively.

Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio was fourth overall thanks to his best time from FP1, whilst afternoon crasher Jordi Torres (Aspar Team Moto2), Simone Corsi (NGM Mobile Racing) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing) all featured in the combined top ten.

Tenth best was Tuenti HP 40 man Pol Espargaro, whose 1'55.244 time from FP1 saw him conclude the day 0.919s behind pace setter Nakagami.


Moto3™

The Gran Premio Iveco de Aragon Moto3™ action on Friday concluded with Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins on top, ahead of Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom.

As the pace quickened towards the end of the second session, Rins and Viñales both set record laps at the MotorLand Aragon circuit for the Moto3 class, with Rins eventually taking P1 with a 1’59.801, which was 0.16s better than Viñales’ fastest time. Salom, meanwhile, was 0.4s off the pace.

Also in the top five were Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin, respectively 0.676s and 1.123s down on Rins’ P1 lap.

The top ten was completed by Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez, Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing’s Philipp Oettl, San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati, Mahindra’s Efren Vazquez and Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou. German Jonas Folger, who is riding with an ankle injury for the Mapfre Aspar Team, did well to end the day in 11th.

Source: MotoGP

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