Forward NGM’s Aleix Easpargaro has drawn first blood in the opening MotoGP free practice session at Qatar, mirroring his pace from the final pre-season test and leading second-placed man Alvaro Bautista by half a second.
The young Spaniard, riding the Open class Yamaha, set two quick laps at the end of the session with a 1’55.633 and topped it with a 1’55.201 to top the tree and go only a tenth slower than Casey Stoner’s outright lap record. Gresini Honda’s Bautista put in a 1’55.667.
Britain’s Bradley Smith, on the Factory option Monster Yamaha, was third quickest after leading halfway through with a 1’55.816 while Andrea Iannone was the leading Ducati by some margin in fourth, just ahead of still-injured Pol Espargaro with the top five dominated by riders who tested here a week ago.
Dani Pedrosa was the first of the title contenders in sixth place but more than a second off the pace and he had Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi right behind him with Colin Edwards, on the second Forward Yamaha, in eighth.
A visibly fed-up Jorge Lorenzo could only muster ninth place with a 1’56.668 which is 1.5s off the pace while Nicky Hayden was quicker than crocked Marc Marquez in 11th place.
Cal Crutchlow came in just behind Stefan Bradl for 13th place, one ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso while Yonny Hernandez bagged 15th before crashing heavily at turn 16 and going to the medical centre for X-rays on his right shoulder.
Scott Redding was beset by bike problems to only finish in 19th but not as badly as Michael Laverty, who failed to set a time and had one bike only running on two cylinders.
