Philip Island, Friday Oct 17th 2014 – The MotoGP™ FP2 session at Phillip Island saw Jorge Lorenzo set the pace on the first day of the Tissot Australian Grand Prix despite a crash in a session which saw several front end spills. Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez joined Lorenzo at towards the head of the combined timesheet.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Lorenzo is the form rider in the premier class at present and he ended the day on top by 0.147s from his compatriot Espargaro despite a crash after losing the front end late in FP2.
The morning’s fastest Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) ended the day second overall courtesy of his FP1 best.
The pressure is off Marquez this weekend after he secured the 2014 title on Sunday at Motegi but the Repsol Honda star was the rider to get closest to Lorenzo in FP2, though he was behind Espargaro on combined times in third overall.
Iannone (Pramac Racing) was 0.2s down on Lorenzo in fourth, but he too suffered a late crash in the afternoon.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) both finished the day inside the top six.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) completed the day’s top ten.
Dovizioso (Ducati Team) fell at Turn 1 early in FP2, he was frustrated but otherwise OK. Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) and Pol Espargaro also both fell in similar incidents, losing the front.
Also on Friday three of Australia’s greatest ever Grand Prix motorcycle racing stars were honoured by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.
Former premier class World Champions Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner all won the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island and the achievements of all three were commemorated in bronze sculptures by Melbourne artist Barbara McLean, unveiled on Friday at the track, with the three riders each in attendance.
Moto2: Relentless Rabat quickest on opening day on the Island
After the first day of Moto2™ practice at the Tissot Australian Grand Prix, the fastest rider was Tito Rabat, followed by Sandro Cortese and Thomas Luthi.
FP2 saw Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) go faster than the best FP1 times, putting in a 1’33.057s. He did so towards the end of a trademark long run. Rabat’s time was 0.598s faster than Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP).
Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) meanwhile, was 0.624s behind Rabat in third, with all three improving their FP1 times.
Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) rounded out the top five on combined times. The top five were within just over 0.7s of Rabat.
Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team), Jonas Folger (AGR Team), Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) and Sam Lowes (Speed Up) completed the top ten on the opening day.
Robin Mulhauser (Technomag CarXpert) suffered a fast fall, causing a lot of damage to his Suter. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Gresini Moto2) and Viñales both took falls, Viñales at Turn 4, whereas Azlan Shah (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) had to be taken to the hospital for a CT scan after sustaining a crash in turn 8. He will be reviewed before FP3 to assess whether he is fit to ride.
Wild card Aiden Wagner (Marc VDS Racing Team) fell and ended his session early and Kallio crashed soon after. All riders were unhurt.
Moto3: Kent fastest overall with Miller the pace setter in afternoon practice
As Friday’s Moto3™ Tissot Australian Grand Prix action was wrapped up, Jack Miller was ahead of the pack in FP2, with Efren Vazquez and Juanfran Guevara also in the top three – but Danny Kent was Friday’s fastest rider overall.
Miller’s best time in the afternoon was 1’37.033 putting him 0.032s ahead of Vazquez in the second practice, but Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo rider Kent was top of the combined timesheets thanks to a 1’36.906 from FP1.
Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) ended the day second quickest overall followed by Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG), Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) in the top five.
Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team), Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo), Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team) all featured in Friday’s top ten on the combined timesheet.
John McPhee (Saxoprint RTG) and Matteo Ferrari (San Carlo Team Italia) both had early highsides in FP2 and Grabriel Ramos (Kiefer Racing) and Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) both suffered crashes mid session.
Jules Danilo (Ambrogio Racing) also fell, along with Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) ending their sessions early. Viñales fell on the final lap.
