Britain’s Bradley Smith has sensationally topped the second Catalunya MotoGP free practice session in Spain this afternoon despite a last-lap charge from Stefan Bradl which saw the German bounce into second place.
Smith used the softer option Bridgestone on his Monster Yamaha to set a time of 1’42.123 on his 17th lap with LCR Honda’s Bradl only 0.007s in arrears - a far cry from his Mugello crash-fest a fortnight ago. However, Aleix Espargaro’s time from this morning remains the fastest of the day, topping the combined sheets with a 1’41.672 set on a soft tyre.
Reigning champion Marc Marquez found some pace over lunch to go from the wrong end of the top ten this morning to third place and he is just 0.151s behind the satellite Honda man with Jorge Lorenzo’s Movistar Yamaha 0.008s further back in fourth place.
Pol Espargaro’s sister Monster Yamaha is in fifth so Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 team have found something in between session which has allowed both of his riders to leap up the order this afternoon.
Valentino Rossi is half a second off the pace in sixth with Italian compatriot Andrea Dovizioso the leading Ducati in seventh. Yonny Hernandez continues his form from this morning, ending in eighth on the satellite Pramac Desmosecidi with team-mate Andrea Iannone next along and unable to better his time from this morning.
Dani Pedrosa struggled again in the second session, sinking to tenth place and almost a second off the pace and less than a tenth ahead of Alvaro Bautista. Aleix Espargaro was working on race setup and ended in 12th, just ahead of Scott Redding, who finished as fastest production Honda.
Cal Crutchlow is also struggling, finishing the session in 14th place and almost a second slower than team-mate Dovizioso while Michael Laverty benefited from a Marquez tow to set the 21st quickest time.
Leon Camier did not make it out on track after Nicky Hayden decided to take part in this session and finished in 18th place
