Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi both made a flying start today in the first practice sessions. The benefit of a recent private test at the Brno circuit was clear to see as Lorenzo shot straight to the top of the time sheets at the beginning of the first practice and remained unchallenged throughout. By the end of the session he was within one second off the pole record for the track and wrapped up the only rider under the 1’57 mark with a 1’56.698 second lap.
The afternoon practice saw him start in the same fashion, quickly taking the top spot and going under his morning time with a 1’56.538. The reigning world champion then spent the remainder of the session testing various settings with his YZR-M1, finishing the day second in the combined times, 0.038 seconds from the top.
Valentino Rossi’s morning was equally successful, the Italian cracking straight on to the pace as the session got underway and mixing times with the top three riders. His first run saw him get down to a 1’57.425 lap. With 35 minutes remaining of the session he was in second position, improving on his second run to get down to a 1’57.243 lap.
The nine-time world champion made another big step in the afternoon, breaking into the 1’56s with a 1’56.726 to take fourth overall and separated from the top rider by just 0.226 seconds.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Championship leader Marc Marquez had a productive day aboard their Honda RC213V machines. Dani was third fastest in the combined times with a time of 1’56.600 on lap 11 of 16, just 0.1s off the fastest time (Stefan Bradl 1’56.500). Teammate Marc was 5th fastest for the day with his best lap of 1’56.733 arriving on lap 7 of 17.
Practice Results
1 – Stefan Bradl – 1’56.500 – GER – HONDA – LCR Honda MotoGP
2 – Jorge Lorenzo – 1’56.538 – SPA – YAMAHA – Yamaha Factory Racing
3 – Dani Pedrosa – 1’56.600 – SPA – HONDA – Repsol Honda Team
4 – Valentino Rossi – 1’56.726 – ITA – YAMAHA – Yamaha Factory Racing
5 – Marc Marquez – 1’56.733 – SPA – HONDA – Repsol Honda Team
6 – Cal Crutchlow – 1’56.800 – GBR – YAMAHA – Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 – Bradley Smith – 1’57.351 – GBR – YAMAHA – Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 – Alvaro Bautista – 1’57.401 – SPA – HONDA – Go & Fun Honda Gresini
9 – Andrea Dovizioso – 1’57.754 – ITA – DUCATI – Ducati Team
10 – Nicky Hayden – 1’57.896 – USA – DUCATI – Ducati Team
11 – Andrea Iannone – 1’58.039 – ITA – DUCATI – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
12 – Aleix Espargaro – 1’58.217 – SPA – ART – Power Electronics Aspar
13 – Michele Pirro – 1’58.958 – ITA – DUCATI – Ignite Pramac Racing Team
14 – Hector Barbera – 1’59.235 – SPA – FTR – Avintia Blusens
15 – Claudio Corti – 1’59.288 – ITA – FTR-KAWASAKI – NGM Mobile Forward Racing
16 – Colin Edwards – 1’59.390 – USA – FTR-KAWASAKI – NGM Mobile Forward Racing
17 – Yonny Hernandez – 1’59.539 – COL – PBM – Paul Bird Motorsport
18 – Hiroshi Aoyama – 1’59.613 – JAP – FTR – Avintia Blusens
19 – Danilo Petrucci – 1’59.719 – ITA – IODA-SUTER – Came IodaRacing Project
20 – Randy De Puniet – 1’59.799 – FRA – SUZUKI – Suzuki Test Team
21 – Michael Laverty – 2’00.338 – GBR – PBM – Paul Bird Motorsport
22 – Karel Abraham – 2’00.413 – CZE – ART – Cardion AB Motoracing
23 – Martin Bauer – 2’00.730 – AUT – S&B SUTER – Remus Racing Team
24 – Lukas Pesek – 2’01.549 – CZE – IODA-SUTER – Came IodaRacing Project
25 – Bryan Staring – 2’01.746 – AUS – FTR-HONDA – Go & Fun Honda Gresini
