Ben Spies tops mixed weather practice at Aragon
Ben Spies at Aragon today
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies has laid down the benchmark by during two wet free practice sessions at Aragon today.
The first session only saw 10 riders venture out onto the Spanish circuit, with the Ducati duo of Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi topping the times.
While the second session remained wet in parts, conditions allowed riders to lay down some competitive times, with Spies setting the fastest time on his final lap, ahead of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha’s championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.
Hayden continued his strong start in the second session, taking fourth, with the American benefiting from the wet condition as his right hand continues to heal from injury.
In fifth, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso led the satellite machines, yet was over a second off Spies’ best time.
LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl looked strong all session on his RC213V machine, ending the day in sixth ahead of Tech 3′s Cal Crutchlow, Rossi, Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista.
Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet put in a solid performance to finish as top CRT machine in 12th.
Free Practice 1
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 318.0 | 2’04.890 | |
| 2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 319.2 | 2’05.750 | 0.860 / 0.860 |
| 3 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 299.2 | 2’07.378 | 2.488 / 1.628 |
| 4 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 302.3 | 2’08.706 | 3.816 / 1.328 |
| 5 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 323.0 | 2’08.873 | 3.983 / 0.167 |
| 6 | 44 | David SALOM | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 296.1 | 2’09.236 | 4.346 / 0.363 |
| 7 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 301.6 | 2’09.348 | 4.458 / 0.112 |
| 8 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 289.3 | 2’10.321 | 5.431 / 0.973 |
| 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 297.4 | 2’15.152 | 10.262 / 4.831 | |
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | ||||
| 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | ||||
| 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | ||||
| 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | ||||
| 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | ||||
| 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | ||||
| 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | ||||
| 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | ||||
| 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | ||||
| 56 | Jonathan REA | GBR | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | ||||
| 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | ||||
| 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | ||||
Free Practice 2
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 324.6 | 2’00.219 | |
| 2 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 330.5 | 2’00.285 | 0.066 / 0.066 |
| 3 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 323.2 | 2’00.746 | 0.527 / 0.461 |
| 4 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 322.4 | 2’00.996 | 0.777 / 0.250 |
| 5 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 325.3 | 2’01.379 | 1.160 / 0.383 |
| 6 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 325.2 | 2’01.626 | 1.407 / 0.247 |
| 7 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 324.0 | 2’01.665 | 1.446 / 0.039 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 323.8 | 2’02.412 | 2.193 / 0.747 |
| 9 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 324.2 | 2’02.632 | 2.413 / 0.220 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 322.8 | 2’03.263 | 3.044 / 0.631 |
| 11 | 56 | Jonathan REA | GBR | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 321.5 | 2’04.046 | 3.827 / 0.783 |
| 12 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 303.7 | 2’04.353 | 4.134 / 0.307 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 302.4 | 2’04.423 | 4.204 / 0.070 |
| 14 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 307.3 | 2’04.542 | 4.323 / 0.119 |
| 15 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 301.3 | 2’04.722 | 4.503 / 0.180 |
| 16 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 299.8 | 2’04.858 | 4.639 / 0.136 |
| 17 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 302.8 | 2’06.030 | 5.811 / 1.172 |
| 18 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 324.3 | 2’06.182 | 5.963 / 0.152 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 304.0 | 2’06.368 | 6.149 / 0.186 |
| 20 | 44 | David SALOM | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 300.7 | 2’06.593 | 6.374 / 0.225 |
| 21 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 306.7 | 2’06.677 | 6.458 / 0.084 |
