Pedrosa Tops Pre-Race Warm Up at Circuit of the Americas MotoGP
2013 Austin MotoGP at Circuit of the Americas
The man who led the third free practice – the practice session that pole-man Marc Marquez didn’t lead – was quickest during the warm up for the Red Bull of the Americas at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Spaniard posted a 2:04.341, which was over a second slower than Marquez’s pole time. The Repsol Honda RC213V rider led ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and the reigning MotoGP Champion, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.
As for Marquez, the youngest pole sitter in MotoGP, was fourth quickest.
In the closing stages, 20-year-old Marquez avoided a collision with GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Bryan Staring. Yesterday, the Australian had been involved in a clash with Karel Abraham which has left the Cardion AB Motoracing rider with a fractured right collarbone; he had been declared unfit to start this afternoon’s 21-lap encounter.
Stefan Bradl completes the top five for LCR Honda MotoGP, while sixth-placed Valentino Rossi was three tenths of a second quicker than he had been for Yamaha yesterday. Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and leading American rider Nicky Hayden were next up, with the top ten being closed off by Andrea Iannone (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and leasing CRT runner Aleix Espargaro) Power Electronics Aspar).
The Red Bull of Americas will begin at 2 p.m. CDT today.
Photos by Ara Ashjian
2013 Austin MotoGP Warm-Up Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 340.1 | 2’04.341 | |
| 2 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 337.2 | 2’04.358 | 0.017 / 0.017 |
| 3 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 337.8 | 2’04.486 | 0.145 / 0.128 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 340.5 | 2’04.604 | 0.263 / 0.118 |
| 5 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 337.7 | 2’04.814 | 0.473 / 0.210 |
| 6 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 335.1 | 2’05.071 | 0.730 / 0.257 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 339.3 | 2’05.191 | 0.850 / 0.120 |
| 8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 339.7 | 2’05.953 | 1.612 / 0.762 |
| 9 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | 340.3 | 2’06.074 | 1.733 / 0.121 |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 319.9 | 2’06.242 | 1.901 / 0.168 |
| 11 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 336.5 | 2’06.326 | 1.985 / 0.084 |
| 12 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | 336.0 | 2’06.487 | 2.146 / 0.161 |
| 13 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 338.3 | 2’06.773 | 2.432 / 0.286 |
| 14 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 316.3 | 2’07.228 | 2.887 / 0.455 |
| 15 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 316.2 | 2’07.252 | 2.911 / 0.024 |
| 16 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 319.3 | 2’08.166 | 3.825 / 0.914 |
| 17 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 315.6 | 2’08.348 | 4.007 / 0.182 |
| 18 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 317.2 | 2’08.453 | 4.112 / 0.105 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 317.5 | 2’08.890 | 4.549 / 0.437 |
| 20 | 70 | Michael LAVERTY | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 315.0 | 2’09.205 | 4.864 / 0.315 |
| 21 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 313.7 | 2’09.809 | 5.468 / 0.604 |
| 22 | 67 | Bryan STARING | AUS | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | FTR Honda | 314.6 | 2’09.811 | 5.470 / 0.002 |
| 23 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | CZE | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 316.3 | 2’10.886 | 6.545 / 1.075 |
| 24 | 79 | Blake YOUNG | USA | Attack Performance Racing | APR | 309.5 | 2’13.310 | 8.969 / 2.424 |
