Sepang MotoGP | Honda’s Pedrosa Dominates Friday Practice

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa

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

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