2013 Laguna Seca MotoGP Free Practice One Results
Practice got underway Friday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the second of three MotoGP rounds held on stateside soil. At 2.243 miles, Laguna is the shortest circuit on the 2013 MotoGP calendar, and features many technical sections, such as the infamous Corkscrew.
And though Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow was still sore from crashes two weeks ago at Sachsenring, the Brit was able to edge out Valentino Rossi in the final moments of the 45-minute session at round nine of 18 in 2013 MotoGP.
Crutchlow, who finished second at Sachsenring last weekend, posted a quickest time of 1:22.757 aboard his satellite YZR-M1. he was 0.091 of a second quicker than Rossi, who finished third in Germany.
The nine-time World Champion led most of the opening practice session of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, and was the first rider to break the 1:23 barrier with 20 minutes remaining.
As for Rossi’s teammate, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo only rode eight laps Friday due to his recovering shoulder. The reigning MotoGP Champion crashed hard two rounds ago at Assen, breaking his shoulder. But he still competed in the race, finishing fifth 38 hours after surgeons installed seven pins and a titanium plate in his collarbone.
But at Sachsenring, Lorenzo suffered another high side, further upsetting his shoulder. He was forced to miss Sachsenring, and underwent a second surgery, getting an additional four pins installed. Regardless, he rode Friday at Laguna, finishing 11th quickest, 1.684 seconds behind the group.
The other rider sidelined at Sachsenring was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who also hurt his left shoulder. Due to the misty conditions at Laguna Seca, Pedrosa didn’t attempt any laps aboard the RC213V, and will likely ride in this afternoon’s FP2 session.
It was a different story for his teammate Marc Marquez, though. Marquez bolted to the top of the time sheets during the final moments. The rookie, who won at Sachsenring and also at the Circuit of the Americas earlier this season, was the only other rider besides Crutchlow and Rossi to post under the 1:23 mark.
Marquez, who never piloted a world-championship motorcycle around the technical Laguna Seca before Friday, trailed Crutchlow by 0.223 of a second.
Fourth fastest was LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, who finished 0.276 off the top time. Bradl was followed by his fellow Honda satellite rider, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Baustia, who was 0.498 of a second off Crutchlow’s time.
The top Ducati time went to Andrea Dovizioso aboard the factory GP13. Dovi was the final rider to post within a second of Crutchlow, the Italian 0.623 of a second back.
The gap between Dovi and the seventh-place rider was huge, considering Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro was 1.148 of a seconds back. Espargaro, the top CRT finisher in MotoGP so far this season, finished just ahead of Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden.
Rounding out the top 10 at the first free practice for Laguna Seca MotoGP were Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith and Espargaro’s teammate, Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman almost crashed with Cruthlow mid session, but Crutchlow remained cool and regained his rhythm to take the top time.
As for the other Americans, NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards was 18th quickest, 2.907 off the top time, and wildcard-rider Blake Young on the Attack Performance Racing Aprilia CRT was 21st, 3.911 off Crutchlow’s time.
The riders will return to the circuit at 2:05 p.m. PDT for second and final free practice of the day.
Photos by Ara Ashjian
2013 Laguna Seca MotoGP Free Practice 1 Results:
1 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 262.9 | 1’22.757 | |
2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 265.4 | 1’22.848 | 0.091 / 0.091 |
3 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 252.6 | 1’22.980 | 0.223 / 0.132 |
4 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 262.8 | 1’23.033 | 0.276 / 0.053 |
5 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 266.1 | 1’23.255 | 0.498 / 0.222 |
6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 263.9 | 1’23.380 | 0.623 / 0.125 |
7 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 254.2 | 1’23.905 | 1.148 / 0.525 |
8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 263.6 | 1’23.927 | 1.170 / 0.022 |
9 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 253.1 | 1’24.287 | 1.530 / 0.360 |
10 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 251.5 | 1’24.363 | 1.606 / 0.076 |
11 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 255.6 | 1’24.441 | 1.684 / 0.078 |
12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 253.9 | 1’24.467 | 1.710 / 0.026 |
13 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | 261.4 | 1’25.133 | 2.376 / 0.666 |
14 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 244.0 | 1’25.309 | 2.552 / 0.176 |
15 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | ART | 255.4 | 1’25.394 | 2.637 / 0.085 |
16 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 251.1 | 1’25.451 | 2.694 / 0.057 |
17 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 254.0 | 1’25.594 | 2.837 / 0.143 |
18 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 251.3 | 1’25.664 | 2.907 / 0.070 |
19 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 253.3 | 1’25.770 | 3.013 / 0.106 |
20 | 70 | Michael LAVERTY | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 243.2 | 1’26.659 | 3.902 / 0.889 |
21 | 79 | Blake YOUNG | USA | Attack Performance Racing | APR | 244.7 | 1’26.668 | 3.911 / 0.009 |
22 | 67 | Bryan STARING | AUS | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | FTR Honda | 233.0 | 1’26.753 | 3.996 / 0.085 |
23 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | CZE | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 234.8 | 1’27.825 | 5.068 / 1.072 |
26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |