Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso ended today’s Motegi MotoGP free practice sessions at the top of the tree, putting his extra-soft rear tyre to good use to beat Jorge Lorenzo by more than four-tenths of a second with a 1’45.140 on his last lap.
But it is the Movistar Yamaha man who looks to have the better pace on the hard option tyre. While Dovizioso is gaining chunks of time out of the slow corners using his extra grip under the factory 2 rules, Lorenzo is on a race tyre and setting consistent 1’45s - already where he needs to be for tomorrow’s race.
LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl bagged third place on the combined sheets with a 1’45.637 but it is the Repsol bike of Dani Pedrosa who currently looks to be Lorenzo’s nearest rival, setting five 1’45s laps from a total of 18 compared to Lorenzo’s six from 16.
Valentino Rossi ended in fifth with only two 1’45s while Mac Marquez had to pick himself up from a crash this morning to set a 1’45.939, fractionally slower than The Doctor, and with only two in the 1’45s.
The Monster Yamahas of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith were line astern in seventh and eighth, and a second off Dovizioso’s pace, while Yonny Hernandez’ time from the first session kept him as an automatic qualifier for Q2 tomorrow.
The Columbian, who remains with Pramac Ducati into 2015 with Danilo Petrucci as a team-mate, got a tow from Marquez and managed a 1’46.113 but was only a tenth slower in the second session.
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow is just on the cusp of Q2, sitting in 11th place but the works Ducati man found eight-tenths of a second over lunch and ended ahead of Alvaro Bautista’s factory-spec Gresini Honda.
Today hasn’t been easy for Scott Redding as he is more than two seconds off the pace and suffering with a lack of off-corner punch. He ended the day down in 19th place, one ahead of Nicky Hayden, but half a second slower than Hiro Aoyama. Michael Laverty finished in 24th and four second off the pace.
