2013 Sepang MotoGP Friday Practice Results
Following his highside at Aragon MotoGP due to loss of traction control after an incident with teammate Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was forced to walk away from round 13 of 18 without any points.
This was complete devastation for the Spaniard, who chases his first-ever title in the MotoGP premier class. The Aragon incident, in which Marquez was penalized for, produced bigger challenges for Pedrosa as he looks to redeem points with four rounds remaining.
And the RC213V pilot went right to work Friday during the opening practice sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix, setting the pace at Sepang. Pedrosa was quickest in the first free practice, leading teammate Marquez by 0.367 of a second.
Pedrsoa, who won last year’s race at Sepang, was quicker during the second free practice, posting a 2:00.544. He was the only rider to break the 2:01 mark, and was two-tenths of a second off the fastest lap record there (2:00.334; Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, 2012).
When FP2 wrapped up, Pedrosa was 0.533 of a second quicker than Marquez. This was in less-than-ideal conditions, also, considering heavy rain fell between the practice sessions. The track was dry, but grip was anything but optimal.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “Today went well; we had two good practice sessions and were able to ride in dry conditions in both the morning and afternoon. In the second session it looked like the track was going to be wet after a brief rain shower in-between FP1 and FP2, but it dried out quickly and we were able to continue working on our setups.
“When sitting on the bike I have quite a lot of pain, as the seat is very hard, so we shall see if a few more anti-inflammatories can help to alleviate the issue. We might also add a small cushion underneath my leathers, in order to absorb the bumps that we get when riding.”
Taking the third quickest time, 0.869 of second back, was Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. The Brit struggled with pain in his swollen right arm from his crash at Silverstone MotoGp, but had less discomfort in FP2, his pace reflecting his improved physical condition.
The future Ducati rider was 0.115 of a second quicker than Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi, who has six premier-class MotoGP wins at Sepang. The nine-time World Champion was the final rider to post within a second of Pedrosa, showing how well the Honda adapts to the Sepang layout.
Though he crashed at Turn 4 while testing a new Showa rear shock, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista posted the fifth quickest time at Sepang MotoGP practice, 1.105 seconds off Pedrosa’s pace.
Next up was the reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Yamaha Factory Racing pilot was having issues with engine braking and rear-grip issues, and said it was the most difficult day of 2013 MotoGP. Lorenzo was 1.156 seconds off Pedrosa’s pace.
Rounding out the top 10 were LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, the Ducati duo of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, and Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith.
The top CRT credit went Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, who was 2.056 seconds behind Pedrosa.
The 24-rider MotoGP grid, joined by Australia’s Damian Cudlin on the PBM CRT, will return to Sepang Saturday for two more free practice sessions ahead of qualifying.
For a preview of the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix MotoGP, click here.
2013 Sepang MotoGP Free Practice 2 Results:
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 326.9 | 2’00.554 | |
2 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 325.7 | 2’01.087 | 0.533 / 0.533 |
3 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 319.7 | 2’01.423 | 0.869 / 0.336 |
4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 322.4 | 2’01.538 | 0.984 / 0.115 |
5 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 322.2 | 2’01.659 | 1.105 / 0.121 |
6 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 322.4 | 2’01.710 | 1.156 / 0.051 |
7 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 325.1 | 2’01.727 | 1.173 / 0.017 |
8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 321.6 | 2’02.373 | 1.819 / 0.646 |
9 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 319.4 | 2’02.487 | 1.933 / 0.114 |
10 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 317.7 | 2’02.551 | 1.997 / 0.064 |
11 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 306.2 | 2’02.610 | 2.056 / 0.059 |
12 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | 320.4 | 2’02.819 | 2.265 / 0.209 |
13 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 307.8 | 2’03.225 | 2.671 / 0.406 |
14 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 307.1 | 2’03.707 | 3.153 / 0.482 |
15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | 318.4 | 2’03.780 | 3.226 / 0.073 |
16 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 308.3 | 2’03.922 | 3.368 / 0.142 |
17 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 306.0 | 2’04.414 | 3.860 / 0.492 |
18 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 306.9 | 2’04.807 | 4.253 / 0.393 |
19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 300.5 | 2’04.965 | 4.411 / 0.158 |
20 | 70 | Michael LAVERTY | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 307.6 | 2’05.551 | 4.997 / 0.586 |
21 | 23 | Luca SCASSA | ITA | Cardion AB Motoracing | ART | 303.4 | 2’05.598 | 5.044 / 0.047 |
22 | 67 | Bryan STARING | AUS | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | FTR Honda | 302.0 | 2’06.538 | 5.984 / 0.940 |
23 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | CZE | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 297.0 | 2’07.024 | 6.470 / 0.486 |
24 | 50 | Damian CUDLIN | AUS | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 304.0 | 2’07.122 | 6.568 / 0.098 |