Reigning MotoGP World Champion has resumed normal service in the second free practice session at Argentina’s Rio Honda circuit, lapping a full second faster than team-mate Dani Pedrosa with the Open class Yamaha of Aleix Espargaro in third.
The Repsol Honda man upped the ante substantially from first practice, setting a 1’40.440 with this eighth lap of the period, then dropped it to a 1’39.425 before finishing off with a 1’39.313 to go 1.104 faster than Pedrosa’s best effort of 1’40.417. He switched to the hard compound tyre after 'destroying' a medium after three laps in FP1.
Espargaro utilised his softer tyre to bag third with a 1’40.556 as part of a three-lap run in the 1’40s, just ahead of the satellite works LCR Honda of Stefan Bradl while Andrea Dovizioso set his quickest time for fifth just before an engine blow-up saw him coast into the gravel.
Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith was second-last on the sheet and trying something setup wise before he blasted into 11th place and then up into fourth before slipping back into sixth with a 1’41.303, nearly two seconds off the pace.
Team-mate Pol Espargaro was next along ahead of the factory Movistar Yamahas of first Valentino Rossi and then Jorge Lorenzo while Andrea Iannone, who looked to have seized a motor not long after Dovizioso’s sister Ducati went pop, rounded out the top ten.
Early pace by Michael Laverty saw him hop into ninth place with a lap three seconds faster than his free practice one pace but he slipped back into 21st, one place ahead of of Scott Redding, who can only have been experimenting as he only found eight tenths.
