LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl topped the timesheet in Friday practice at Brno, outpacing defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha Factory Racing by 0.038 seconds. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa finished the day third-fastest followed by Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, in fourth.

Lorenzo started the day with an authoritative showing in FP1, leading the way the entire session. He and Rossi traded position out front during their initial fast laps in FP2 and soon after Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow was challenging for the top spot as well. This back-and-forth was brief, however, in the scope of the entire session and Lorenzo sat comfortably in front with a time of 1’56.538, set on his fourth lap out. The Mallorcan later credited ineffectual changes to his bike as contributing to his inability to improve on the time.

Bradl, however, enjoyed steady improvement over the course of FP2, turning on the jets just before the end of the day after switching to a softer Bridgestone rear tire, cutting over four-tenths of a second off his previous best effort. The German rider had difficulty finding his rhythm in FP1, placing seventh-fastest, and stated in a team press release that more work needs to be done to the front end to help achieve a smooth and competitive pace.

Pedrosa continues to struggle with physical pain stemming from his recent shoulder injury, though he was able to put himself in the top-three during both sessions on Friday. Rossi shaved half a second off his fastest morning lap in the afternoon.

“I think that we are equal at this track because Dani won last year with the Honda after the battle with Jorge on the last lap,” said Rossi. “For sure the Yamaha is more competitive here in Brno and also I am more competitive because I like the track and I ride in a better way than in Indianapolis.”

Pedrosa’s teammate and the current championship points leader, Marc Marquez, ended a slim 0.007 seconds behind Rossi to finish fifth-fastest in FP2. Crutchlow trailed in sixth, though is only three-tenths of a second adrift of the leader. Crutchlow’s teammate, Bradley Smith, finished seventh followed by Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista in eighth and Ducati team’s Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden in ninth and 10th respectively.

Halfway across the world, Ben Spies is recovering from surgery on both shoulders performed by Dr. Daniel Cooper in Dallas, according to a Pramac Racing press release. In the left shoulder the procedure was intended to fix the fifth-degree dislocation Spies suffered during his crash at Indianapolis. In his right shoulder, Dr. Cooper worked to remove scar tissue. The American rider was also found to have strained the ligaments in the base of his left hand. It’s unknown how long Spies will be in recovery or when he'll be able to return to the grid.

MotoGP Brno Friday Results 2013: 
1. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 1’56.500 
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’56.538 
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’56.600 
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’56.726 
5. Marc Marquez (Honda) 1’56.733 
6. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1’56.800 
7. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 1’57.351 
8. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 1’57.401 
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1’57.754 
10. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1’57.896 
11. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1’58.039 
12. Aleix Espargaro (ART) 1’58.217 
13. Michele Pirro (Ducati) 1’58.958 
14. Hiroshi Aoyama (FTR) 1’59.178 
15. Hector Barbera (FTR) 1’59.235 
16. Claudio Corti (FTR-Kawasaki) 1’59.288 
17. Colin Edwards (FTR-Kawasaki) 1’59.390 
18. Yonny Hernandez (ART) 1’59.539 
19. Danilo Petrucci (Ioda-Suter) 1’59.719 
20. Randy de Puniet (ART) 1’59.799 
21. Michael Laverty (PBM) 2’00.338 
22. Karel Abraham (ART) 2’00.413 
23. Martin Bauer (S&B Suter) 2’0.730 
24. Lukas Pesek (Ioda-Suter) 2’01.549 
25. Bryan Staring (FTR-Honda) 2’01.746