2014 Valencia MotoGP Friday Report
When the opening day of free practice was complete for the Valencia Grand Prix – the season finale of 2014 MotoGP – Marc Marquez was untouchable.
The Repsol Honda pilot, who clinched his second-straight title at Motegi four rounds ago, set the pace in the morning session with a 1:31.296 on his final attempt of 19 laps.
Marquez attempted to top this time in the afternoon session, but after 20 laps he could not improve. His best time was a 1:31.454 – also the fastest time of the afternoon session.
Marquez’s morning time was the fastest overall on Friday. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo followed , 0.193 of a second behind. Lorenzo’s quickest time was also from the morning session.
Third fastest went to Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, who set the time in the second free practice and was 0.1 of a second off Lorenzo’s time.
“The best thing about today was how I felt on the bike. Finishing fastest is a reference, but the most important thing is that the pace was good, and we have been improving and testing things out.
“This afternoon the track was a little slower, but we hope to continue improving tomorrow. I’m sure that there will be a nice fight for pole between myself, Jorge [Lorenzo], Dani [Pedrosa] and Valentino [Rossi].”
Fourth went to NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro – the top open-class rider all season. Taking fifth was Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who has won six times at Valencia since the circuit joined GP racing in 1999.
Completing the top 10 were Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3).
Wildcard Randy de Puniet (Team Suzuki MotoGP) improved by over a second towards the end of the FP2 session, before a technical fault with the GSX-RR saw him pull over at trackside with smoke pouring from engine. He was 19th overall.
The riders return to Valencia Saturday for two additional free practices ahead of qualifying.
For a preview of the round, visit 2014 Valencia MotoGP Preview.