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Aleix Espargaro tops Friday practice in Barcelona

Team Suzuki Ecstar's Aleix Espargaro delighted his home fans at the Catalan GP by ending the day on top of the combined timesheets.

It was thrilling first day of MotoGP Free Practice at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya in Barcelona that ended with Aleix Espargaro sending the fans home happy after he ended the day on top of the timesheets.

Conditions improved throughout the day with track temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius by FP2, which led to most riders improving their times in the afternoon practice session. The weather forecast for Saturday is mixed, therefore an extra emphasis was placed on Friday's practice sessions, as if it rains tomorrow, today's times could decide who makes it through automatically to Q2.

It was frantic last few minutes of FP2 as riders whacked on new slicks and headed out on track to put in one last flying lap. Espargaro left it until late to put in a 1’42.183, just 0.3s off Andrea Dovizioso’s 2014 lap record. The Catalan rider clearly benefitting from the engine upgrades to his GSX-RR machine.

The Repsol Honda’s of Marc Marquez (+0.285s) was the only man to get within half a second of the leading Suzuki as he debuted a new exhaust on his RC213V. His teammate Dani Pedrosa (+0.0631s) was in third ahead of Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+0.665s) who, along with his teammate Iannone, was sporting modified winglets on his GP15 to cope with the higher curbs at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Team Suzuki Ecstar enjoyed a day to remember as Maverick Viñales (+0.764s) also showed good pace on the second GSX-RR to finish in fifth.

Andrea Iannone (+0780s) improved from eleventh in FP1 to end the day in sixth overall, with the big surprise being Jorge Lorenzo finding himself down in seventh on the Movistar Yamaha M1. Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top ten, despite Redding crashing heavily at turn 10 during the afternoon.

Nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi ended the day down in 11th, while Nicky Hayden was in 13th, just ahead of Bradley Smith (14th). Irishman Eugene Laverty set the 19th fastest time of the day, with Aussie Jack Miller in 20th, 2.211s behind Espargaro.

Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time
1 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'41.158
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'41.443
3 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'41.789
4 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'41.823
5 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'41.922
6 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'41.938
7 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'42.034
8 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR CWM LCR Honda Honda 1'42.044
9 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'42.313
10 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'42.354
11 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'42.367
12 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Pramac Racing Ducati 1'42.417
13 HAYDEN Nicky 69 USA Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 1'42.623
14 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'42.645
15 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'42.697
16 BAZ Loris 76 FRA Athina Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1'42.968
17 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'42.995
18 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE AB Motoracing Honda 1'43.008
19 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 1'43.351
20 MILLER Jack 43 AUS CWM LCR Honda Honda 1'43.369
21 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'43.463
22 BRADL Stefan 6 GER Athina Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1'43.536
23 DI MEGLIO Mike 63 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'43.760
24 DE ANGELIS Alex 15 RSM Athina Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1'44.614
25 MELANDRI Marco 33 ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'45.270