Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa ended the opening Jerez MotoGP free practice on top of the pile but was chased hard by Britain’s Cal Crutchlow who trailed his HRC stablemate by only 0.002s in a wet session that saw RC213Vs occupy four of the top five spaces - Andrea Dovizioso the only fly in the Japanese ointment.
Pedrosa’s 1’51.648 on his 14th lap was enough to take the laurels but it looked like Crutchlow’s final flier would be enough to secure top spot but he missed out by the narrowest of margins, setting a 1’51.650. 2016 Assen MotoGP winner Jack Miller was around the top five all session and ended in third just 0.157s behind.
Ducati’s Dovizioso only did eight laps in the session and his last was enough for fourth and ended the Honda lock-out. Dovizioso was just 0.023s slower than Miller while reigning champion Marc Marquez - who spent some time lapping with Pedrosa halfway through the session - finshed in fifth and three-tenths down on his compatriot.
Monster Yamaha’s Jonas Folger led with a 1’52.249 with ten minutes left to run as Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo - usually dreadful in the rain — jumped up to third place. The German slid back to sixth but is only six-tenths off the pace. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro hopped into seventh with his last lap of 1’52.350.
Danilo Petrucci, usually handy in these conditions, ended in eighth and one ahead of Lorenzo. Maverick Vinales finished in tenth place with Britain’s Scott Redding in 11th. Andrea Iannone took the Ecstar Suzuki to 12th with Johann Zarco in 13th place.
KTM’s Pol Espargaro used the new big-bang motor to drive him into 14th place, one ahead of team-mate Bradley Smith. Valentino Rossi was well off the pace in 16th place while Sam Lowes did eight laps and finished in 18th.
Marquez and Vinales have a little rub...
