Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo started off the Catalan Grand Prix in style after finishing MotoGP’s Friday practice session on top with a time of 1m38.930s, which the Spaniard set in the day’s FP2 after he was third in FP1 earlier in the day.
Lorenzo was the only rider to dip into the 1m38s bracket with Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone in second after his best time of 1m39.037s coming in FP2. The Italian was involved in a crash in FP1 and a quarrel with his future Aprilia teammate Aleix Espargaro in FP2.
Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales also improved in FP2 to end up third with a time of 1m39.422s with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (1m39.443s) only 0.021s apart in a Yamaha sandwich with Valentino Rossi in fifth.
The Italian topped FP1 with a 1m39.456s laptime but couldn’t improve in FP2 after he only managed a 1m39.989s time. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was sixth with a time of 1m39.458s ahead of Pramac Racing Ducati of Danilo Petrucci (1m39.619s).
Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco (1m39.633s) had an early crash in FP2 but still was able to improve on FP1 time to finish eighth as teammate Hafizh Syahrin (1m39.782s) in 10th sandwiched Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (1m39.655s).
Avintia Racing Ducati’s Tito Rabat (1m39.851s) showed good pace to be 11th while a crash for Honda’s Marc Marquez in FP1 meant the Spaniard was only 12th on the basis of his FP1’s 1m39.882s laptime.
Interestingly, KTM’s wildcard rider Mika Kallio finished well ahead of the two factory riders in 13th after a time of 1m40.004s with Bradley Smith (1m40.309s) only 15th and Pol Espargaro (1m40.508s) in 20th.
Espargaro was involved in a crash in FP2 while Smith had scuffle with Prama Racing Ducati of Jack Miller in FP1, who could only manage 16th on the basis of his 1m40.310s time which he set in FP1 itself.
Meanwhile, Angel Nieto Team Ducati of Alvaro Bautista (1m40.265s) finished 14th leading the aforementioned Smith and Miller with Aleix (1m40.388s) in 17th after his minor coming together with Iannone early in FP2 meant his best time from FP1 was only counted.
Another to fall in FP2 was Suzuki’s Alex Rins (1m40.399s) finishing 18th ahead of LCR Honda’s Nakagami (1m40.450s) and KTM’s Espargaro. Avintia Ducati’s Xavier Simoen was 21st from Marc VDS Honda of Franco Morbidelli (1m40.728s).
The Italian suffered falls in both FP1 and FP2 in a torrid day with teammate Thomas Luthi (1m40.975s) sandwiching Aprilia’s Scott Redding (1m40.815s) – who also crashed in FP2 as well.
Suzuki’s wildcard Sylvain Guintoli (1m41.229s) was 25th while Angel Nieto Team Ducati’s Karel Abraham (1m41.361s) completing the 26 finishers – the Czech rider also crashing in FP1.