Lorenzo Leads Opening MotoGP Practice

The opening round of the 2013 MotoGP Championship began this evening at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. The first free practice wound up with Yamaha leading the class and dominating the top of the time sheets. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo was quick to find a set up on his YZR-M1 and spent the session challenging within the top few positions. As the track conditions improved in the last ten minutes so did the times, the Mallorcan taking the top spot in the last two minutes and increasing speed again to finish with an impressive 1’56.685.

Teammate Valentino Rossi’s first race weekend back on the YZR-M1 began in style this evening, the Italian nine-time MotoGP Champion took almost immediate possession of the number one spot on the timesheets and was only rarely troubled there throughout the session. Only teammate Lorenzo and fellow Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow were able to contend for the fastest time, with all three ending the session within one tenth of a second from each other.

Practice Results

Pos Rider Time Nat Bike Team
1 Jorge Lorenzo 1'56.685 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Cal Crutchlow 1'56.743 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
3 Valentino Rossi 1'56.756 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
4 Marc Marquez 1'57.276 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
5 Andrea Dovizioso 1'57.538 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
6 Alvaro Bautista 1'57.601 SPA HONDA & FTR Go & Fun Honda Gresini
7 Stefan Bradl 1'57.670 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
8 Dani Pedrosa 1'57.749 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
9 Aleix Espargaro 1'57.843 SPA ART Power Electronics Aspar
10 Nicky Hayden 1'57.926 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
11 Bradley Smith 1'58.369 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
12 Andrea Iannone 1'58.559 ITA DUCATI Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
13 Ben Spies 1'58.575 USA DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
14 Hector Barbera 1'59.608 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
15 Randy De Puniet 1'59.633 FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
16 Karel Abraham 1'59.758 CZE ART Cardion AB Motoracing
17 Colin Edwards 2'00.341 USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
18 Yonny Hernandez 2'00.426 COL PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Hiroshi Aoyama 2'00.563 JAP FTR Avintia Blusens
20 Claudio Corti 2'01.227 ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Danilo Petrucci 2'01.438 ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
22 Bryan Staring 2'01.942 AUS HONDA & FTR Go & Fun Honda Gresini
23 Lukas Pesek 2'02.079 CZE IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
24 Michael Laverty 2'02.135 GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport