Sepang MotoGP specialist Pedrosa’s FP1 time tops Friday timesheets
Dani Pedrosa’s best time in MotoGP™ FP1 at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix made him Friday’s fastest rider, with Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Lorenzo also in the top three – after the FP2 run was delayed and affected by rain at Sepang.
In a wet afternoon outing Lorenzo led the way from Marc Marquez, with Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro also in FP2 the top five.
But the FP1 times set in the dry are what counts on the combined timesheets which contribute to the provisional Q2 automatic participation spots. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), who has won here for the last two years, set a 2’01.379 lap to give him the lead in FP1.
Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) trailed by just 0.014s in second place, whilst Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was just 0.037s down on Pedrosa in third and Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was fourth in the morning run.
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) completed Friday’s top ten.
Moto2: Title hopeful Rabat fastest on first day at Sepang
In Moto2 FP2 at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix the session started on a wet-drying track and the fastest rider was Tito Rabat, followed by Johann Zarco and Maverick Viñales on the combined timesheets.
Torrential rain had fallen earlier in the afternoon, meaning the FP2 session was slightly delayed and many riders remained in the their pit boxes as they waited for the track to dry.
Championship leader and title hopeful Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) eventually set an excellent 2’07.729 time at the end of FP2 to lead the way, with Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) second overall courtesy of his 2’08.048 which was the best lap in FP1. Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) was second best in FP2 and third on combined times.
Also in the top five overall were Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), who were fourth and fifth respectively and both set their best time in the morning.
Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team), Jonas Folger (AGR Team), Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Ricard Cardus (Tech 3) were all in the combined top ten.
Moto3: Antonelli pops up ahead of the rest in afternoon run
Wrapping up Friday’s Moto3™ Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix action, Niccolo Antonelli was in front of the rest in FP2, with Jakub Kornfeil and Alex Marquez also in the top three.
Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) registered a 2’13.583 lap late in the session to take over at the top. Kornfeil (Calvo Team) was 0.016s behind in second place with Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) third and just 0.021s from P1 himself.
Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was 0.027s down in fourth, with Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) fifth and 0.163s off Antonelli’s pace.
Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team), Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo), Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) and John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG) completed the top ten.
Brad Binder crashed (Ambrogio Racing) into his teammate Jules Danilo early in the session after they misread each other’s lines. Binder missed most of the session before heading back out to test his repaired bike in the final minutes.
Luca Grünwald (Kiefer Racing) crashed coming out of turn 8, though he was ok and soon picked his bike up and moved it off the racing line.
The rain flag came out in the final seconds, perhaps affecting the riders who were on a hot lap. Soon after the session ended torrential rain began to fall.
