Indy MotoGP FP2: Stoner Edges Out Spies

2011 MotoGP

For most of the second free practice session for the Red Bull Indy Grand Prix, the American MotoGP pilot Ben Spies was in the lead, dominating like he did throughout FP1.

But during the final minutes of Free Practice 2, Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner returned to his usual self, posting the fastest time of 1:40.724; the Australian beat out Yamaha Factory Racing’s Spies, who had pole in last year’s Indy MotoGP, by 0.194 of a second. Stoner’s lap also became the new MotoGP fastest lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Taking the third fastest FP2 time was Stoner’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who won at Indy last season. The Spaniard RC212V rider was 0.481 of a second slower than Stoner.

Fourth fastest was the reigning MotoGP Champion and last year’s podium finisher, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. The final two to post within a second of Stoner were his teammate Andrea Dovizioso and America’s Colin Edwards (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha), respectively.

As for the third and final American in the 2011 MotoGP lineup, Nicky Hayden was eighth fastest aboard the Ducati Team GP11.1. His teammate, nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi struggled, posting the 11th fastest time, 1.681 seconds behind Stoner.

The MotoGP boys will be back on the 2.6-mile Indy circuit Saturday for Free Practice 3 at 10:10 a.m. (CDT), which will be followed by qualifying at 1:55 (CDT).

2011 Indy MotoGP: Free Practice 2 Results

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1.	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	319.3	1’40.724
2.	11	Ben SPIES	USA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	312.2	1’40.918	0.194 / 0.194
3.	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	317.8	1’41.205	0.481 / 0.287
4.	1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	313.8	1’41.461	0.737 / 0.256
5.	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	320.1	1’41.536	0.812 / 0.075
6.	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	313.2	1’41.699	0.975 / 0.163
7.	58	Marco SIMONCELLI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	316.8	1’41.742	1.018 / 0.043
8.	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	316.0	1’41.789	1.065 / 0.047
9.	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	317.8	1’42.231	1.507 / 0.442
10.	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	310.6	1’42.339	1.615 / 0.108
11.	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	316.6	1’42.405	1.681 / 0.066
12.	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	318.6	1’42.673	1.949 / 0.268
13.	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	321.1	1’42.920	2.196 / 0.247
14.	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	315.1	1’43.034	2.310 / 0.114
15.	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	312.9	1’43.085	2.361 / 0.051
16.	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	315.8	1’43.230	2.506 / 0.145
17.	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati	315.2	1’43.528	2.804 / 0.298