Photo: motogp.com
The on-track battle commenced for the 7th round of the 2014 MotoGP championship, the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. Just like we’ve seen him do on more occasions this year, Aleix Espargaro was the quickest on the field in the debut Free Practice this morning on the Spanish asphalt.
Even though the FP1 session was held way before noon, the track was already at 38 degrees Celsius (100 F), with things definitely becoming hotter in the afternoon. However, weather experts say that rain may be present in the area Sunday, so the Barcelona round may become even more interesting, given the actual layout of the grid, with Ducati definitely being one of the bikes to profit the most from a wet race.
The NGM Forward Racing rider lapped 1’41.672 around the Barcelona track, using the special softer tire compound for the Open class machines, a tire he will most likely not be using in the Sunday race, especially if rain appears. The elder of the Espargaro brothers was followed by Jorge Lorenzo, 0.729 seconds adrift, and a surprisingly fast Andrea Iannone, only 10 thousandths slower. Valentino Rossi and Stefan Bradl have rounded up the top five, both under a second behind Aleix Espargaro.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez were 6th and 7th fastest respectively, but we’ve seen this so many times. They WILL be much faster and stronger in FP2 and FP3, at least we know Marc will. Alvaro Bautista, Yonny Hernandez and Pol Espargaro have completed the first 10 positions in FP1, with Dovizioso in the 11th place and Cal Crutchlow only 15th. Nicky Hayden was 17th fastest, with his recently-operated wrist still giving him a hard time. IodaRacing’s Danilo Petrucci was not able to ride and was substituted by Michele Fabrizio aboard the ART machine. He finished FP1 5 and a half seconds adrift Aleix Espargaro.
Free Practice 2 kicks off at 14:05 local time (GMT+2), and it’s then when we get to see a more realistic picture of how the Barcelona round of the MotoGP is lining up. Rossi and Lorenzo have not been shy to admit they will be gunning Marquez down as hard as they will be able to, so fun is coming our way…
The NGM Forward Racing rider lapped 1’41.672 around the Barcelona track, using the special softer tire compound for the Open class machines, a tire he will most likely not be using in the Sunday race, especially if rain appears. The elder of the Espargaro brothers was followed by Jorge Lorenzo, 0.729 seconds adrift, and a surprisingly fast Andrea Iannone, only 10 thousandths slower. Valentino Rossi and Stefan Bradl have rounded up the top five, both under a second behind Aleix Espargaro.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez were 6th and 7th fastest respectively, but we’ve seen this so many times. They WILL be much faster and stronger in FP2 and FP3, at least we know Marc will. Alvaro Bautista, Yonny Hernandez and Pol Espargaro have completed the first 10 positions in FP1, with Dovizioso in the 11th place and Cal Crutchlow only 15th. Nicky Hayden was 17th fastest, with his recently-operated wrist still giving him a hard time. IodaRacing’s Danilo Petrucci was not able to ride and was substituted by Michele Fabrizio aboard the ART machine. He finished FP1 5 and a half seconds adrift Aleix Espargaro.
Free Practice 2 kicks off at 14:05 local time (GMT+2), and it’s then when we get to see a more realistic picture of how the Barcelona round of the MotoGP is lining up. Rossi and Lorenzo have not been shy to admit they will be gunning Marquez down as hard as they will be able to, so fun is coming our way…
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