Dani Pedrosa tops practice at Laguna Seca
Dani Pedrosa
Dani Pedrosa has topped the opening two MotoGP practice sessions at Laguna Seca.
The Repsol Honda rider edged out championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in the first session, and not only bettered his time in the second session, but extended his advantage over his rivals.
Yamaha’s Lorenzo claimed second place in both sessions, while retiring Australian star Casey Stoner was third.
Lorenzo’s team-mate Ben Spies was fourth, from Yamaha Tech 3′s duo Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow.
Local rider Nicky Hayden was ninth in the first session before improving to seventh in the second. That wasn’t the biggest news for the day, however, with the American announcing he has re-signed a new deal with Ducati.
His Ducati team-mate Valentino Rossi claimed the same positions in reverse order, despite an incident in FP2. The accident damaged the air-fence, causing the session to be red-flagged.
LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl took eighth in both sessions.
Free Practice 1
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 263.8 | 1’21.424 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 262.6 | 1’21.498 | 0.074 / 0.074 |
| 3 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 263.3 | 1’21.829 | 0.405 / 0.331 |
| 4 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 263.0 | 1’21.939 | 0.515 / 0.110 |
| 5 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 262.8 | 1’22.609 | 1.185 / 0.670 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 264.8 | 1’22.672 | 1.248 / 0.063 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 266.9 | 1’23.216 | 1.792 / 0.544 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 251.6 | 1’23.249 | 1.825 / 0.033 |
| 9 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 260.0 | 1’23.310 | 1.886 / 0.061 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 258.9 | 1’23.537 | 2.113 / 0.227 |
| 11 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 253.9 | 1’24.905 | 3.481 / 1.368 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 242.5 | 1’25.169 | 3.745 / 0.264 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 255.8 | 1’25.215 | 3.791 / 0.046 |
| 14 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 240.6 | 1’25.488 | 4.064 / 0.273 |
| 15 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 255.5 | 1’25.816 | 4.392 / 0.328 |
| 16 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 236.8 | 1’25.904 | 4.480 / 0.088 |
| 17 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 234.4 | 1’25.931 | 4.507 / 0.027 |
| 18 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 237.1 | 1’26.125 | 4.701 / 0.194 |
| 19 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 243.2 | 1’26.421 | 4.997 / 0.296 |
| 20 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 233.0 | 1’26.703 | 5.279 / 0.282 |
| 21 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 236.8 | 1’27.102 | 5.678 / 0.399 |
| 15 | Steve RAPP | USA | Attack Performance | APR | 234.4 | 1’29.814 | 8.390 / 2.712 |
Free Practice 2
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 266.7 | 1’21.088 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 264.5 | 1’21.422 | 0.334 / 0.334 |
| 3 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 268.1 | 1’21.457 | 0.369 / 0.035 |
| 4 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 265.1 | 1’21.708 | 0.620 / 0.251 |
| 5 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 262.4 | 1’22.021 | 0.933 / 0.313 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 266.1 | 1’22.258 | 1.170 / 0.237 |
| 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 264.0 | 1’22.434 | 1.346 / 0.176 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 256.2 | 1’22.568 | 1.480 / 0.134 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 268.0 | 1’22.772 | 1.684 / 0.204 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 263.0 | 1’22.853 | 1.765 / 0.081 |
| 11 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 249.1 | 1’23.835 | 2.747 / 0.982 |
| 12 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 251.2 | 1’23.870 | 2.782 / 0.035 |
| 13 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 250.9 | 1’24.732 | 3.644 / 0.862 |
| 14 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 259.0 | 1’24.739 | 3.651 / 0.007 |
| 15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 246.7 | 1’24.774 | 3.686 / 0.035 |
| 16 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 257.9 | 1’24.849 | 3.761 / 0.075 |
| 17 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 244.7 | 1’25.000 | 3.912 / 0.151 |
| 18 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 245.6 | 1’25.065 | 3.977 / 0.065 |
| 19 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 239.3 | 1’25.166 | 4.078 / 0.101 |
| 20 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 240.2 | 1’25.405 | 4.317 / 0.239 |
| 21 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 241.7 | 1’25.422 | 4.334 / 0.017 |
| 15 | Steve RAPP | USA | Attack Performance | APR | 245.2 | 1’28.016 | 6.928 / 2.594 |
