MotoGP Qatar Friday Results
Friday, April 05, 2013
By Frankie Garcia www.motorcycle-usa.com
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez topped the combined free practice timesheets during
Friday MotoGP action at Losail. The rookie just edged out
defending World Champion Jorge Lorenzo with a lap of 1’56.084. The Factory Yamaha
Pilot, Lorenzo, put in a time of 1’56.085, just .001 slower than Marquez. Third
quickest on the combined timesheet with a lap time of 1.56.326 was yesterday’s
fastest rider, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, followed by Lorenzo’s
teammate Valentino
Rossi.
“Practice today went pretty well –better than expected,” explained Marquez. “I
was very comfortable on the bike, and this is the important thing. Our
foundation isn't bad at all, we are improving in every session and working with
Sunday's race in mind. What we are missing is a bit of pace and consistency. We
will have to make the most of the 30 minutes that we have before qualifying
tomorrow to improve those points.”
Ducati Factory new-guy Andrea Dovizioso claimed fifth place on the combined
practice timesheet. At one point the former Repsol Honda pilot was locked in
the fourth spot before he was edged out by his fellow Italian, Rossi, in the
final moments of the session.
Marquez’s stablemate Dani Pedrosa scored another disappointing result in the
third and final practice session as he ended with the sixth quickest time with
a 1’56.502 on his Repsol Honda. Pedrosa was followed by GO&FUN Honda
Gresini’s Alvero Bautista and second Factory Ducati of Nicky Hayden. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie Bradley Smith
filled in the ninth spot on the timesheet while the top ten was rounded out by
Stefan Bradl, who posted a 1’56.984.
Just outside the top ten were the Pramac Racing Ducati duo of Andrea Iannone
and Ben Spies. The two were also the first to finish outside the 1’56.0 mark
with a 1’57.169 (Iannone) and 1’57.308 (Spies). The two teammates will lead the
bottom portion of the field into Q1 on Saturday in hopes of holding their positions
in order to join the top-ten in Q2 per the new MotoGP qualifying format.
The top ten riders from today’s combined timesheet quality directly into Q2
while the rest of the riders will go into the 15-minute Qualifying 1. The
top-two riders from Q1 advance to Qualifying 2, also a 15-minute session.
Qualifying 2 will determine the final grid positions for the race.
At the head of the CRT timesheet it was once again Spanish rider Aleix
Espargaro on his Power Electronics Aspar ART machine with a time of 1’57.420,
just over a tenth of a second slower than American Spies on his Ducati
prototype. Hector Barbera (1.57.956) and Yonny Hernandez (1’58.211)
respectively slotted themselves into the 14th and 15th spots at the end of the
session.
MotoGP Losail Friday Results 2013:
1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 1'56.084
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'56.085
3. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1'56.326
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'56.416
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1'56.417
6. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'56.502
7. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 1'56.572
8. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1'56.670
9. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 1'56.901
10. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 1'56.984
11. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1'57.169
12. Ben Spies (Ducati) 1'57.308
13. Aleix Espargaro (ART) 1'57.420
14. Hector Barbera (FTR) 1'57.956
15. Yonny Hernandez (ART) 1'58.211
16. Randy de Puniet (ART) 1'58.396
17. Colin Edwards (FTR Kawasaki) 1'58.863
18. Karel Abraham (ART) 1'59.180
19. Hiroshi Aoyama (FTR) 1'59.212
20. Danilo Petrucci (Ioda-Suter) 1'59.755
21. Bryan Staring (FTR (Honda) 1'59.758
22. Lukas Pesek (Ioda-Suter) 1'59.837
23. Michael Laverty (PBM) 2'00.080
24. Claudio Corti (FTR Kawasaki) 2'00.439
