Marquez dominates second practice in Argentina

2014-04-25 13:29
MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez was in dominant form on Friday at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina, leading FP2 by 1.083s from teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Aleix Espargaro in third
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M.Marquez (SPA)

D.Pedrosa (SPA)

A.Espargaro (SPA)
As the riders learned their way around the new Termas de Rio Hondo track Marquez demonstrated his ability to go quickly at unfamiliar venues once again, recording a 1’39.313 best lap to put him clear of nearest rival Pedrosa.

Espargaro once again showed his pace and the potential of his ‘Open’ NGM Forward Racing package, placing himself third on the timesheet with a 1’40.566 best effort on the Forward Yamaha.
In fourth place was LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, the German rider who was one of a select group to test at this venue last year. He ended the day 1.578s behind Marquez.

Completing the top five was Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) who ended the session riding his second bike after the engine on his first machine blew up early in the practice. The Italian lapped within 1.729s of P1.

Monster Yamaha Tech3 pair Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro were sixth and seventh respectively, with Smith making a late improvement to jump from the foot of the timesheet as he improved his time by three seconds with a fast lap.

Valentino Rossi and his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Jorge Lorenzo were eighth and ninth after Lorenzo had gone fastest in the morning FP1 session. They will both look to step up the pace on Saturday morning.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) walked away from a heavy crash at turn five and returned to the track on his second bike to improve his time and complete the top ten.

Moto2™: Zarco the top man in later Friday practice
As the intermediate class FP2 session concluded at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina it was Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham) on the pace, with Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) also in the top three
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Johann Zarco (FRA)
Zarco led the way by just 0.027s from Folger, with Aegerter 0.077s from the top at the end of a typically tight FP2, with times improving in the final seconds at the renovated 4.8km Termas de Rio Hondo track.

Folger was the pace setter in FP1 and appears to be enjoying the transition to Moto2 machinery this season. Aegerter had a small low-side crash at Turn 13, but was able to rejoin the session.
Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40) were both within 0.265s of Zarco, completing the top five.

Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing), Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing), Ricky Cardus (Tech 3), Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) rounded out the top ten at the end of the opening day.

Moto3™: Miller quickest in afternoon run
The Moto3™ FP2 session at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina saw championship leader Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) set the pace, ahead of Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) and Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team)
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Jack Miller (AUS)
Miller registered a 1’50.367s lap late in the practice run, improving significantly on his 1’51.929 pace setting best from FP1.

Behind Miller were three Spaniards, with Vazquez (+0.263), Viñales (+0.797) and Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) trailing the Australian. Marquez was 0.867s behind Miller and had briefly held provisional P1, as did rookie Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) before the young Czech eventually finished fifth with a time 0.9s off the top.

Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo), Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing), Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) were all in the top ten.

Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) and John McPhee (SAXOPRINT RTG) were both just outside the top ten and both escaped unhurt from light crashes.

Source: MotoGP

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