
With this morning’s MotoGP free practice at Estoril a washout, the Race Direction has officially decided to add another extra fifteen minutes to tomorrow’s Saturday morning free practice 3 and qualifying sessions.
Free practice 2 saw all the riders, first on a wet track, that slowly dried out, but it was Jorge Lorenzo who took the top of charts in the tricky conditions with a best lap of 1.48.522, followed by Nicky Hayden who was just 0.135sec from Lorenzo.
Valentino Rossi claimed the third spot with a last lap lunge, while Casey Stoner was fourth. The Aussie lead most of the forty five minute session when he was riding on full wets.
Ben Spies, on another track to learn, was fifth and a massive 1.199s slower, but finished ahead of Marco Melandri, who is a wet weather specialist. The insidious track conditions caught out four riders, Hector Barbera, Andrea Dovizioso, Colin Edwards, and Alvaro Bautista, who all ended up in the gravel trap.
Randy de Puniet was seventh, just in front of Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso, with injured Loris Capirossi closing out the top ten.
Dani Pedrosa, who is making his comeback after missing three races due to his broken collarbone was extra cautious and finished 13th,
Carlos Checa, who is returning to MotoGP for the final two rounds replacing Mika Kallio at Pramac Ducati, was 17th and almost 6 seconds off Lorenzo’s pace.
MotoGP Estoril FP2 Results:
01- Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’48.522
02- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.135
03- Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.361
04- Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.539
05- Ben Spies – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.199
06- Marco Melandri – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.262
07- Randy De Puniet – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.521
08- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 2.761
09- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 3.772
10- Loris Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 4.053
11- Hector Barbera – Paginas Amarillas Aspar – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 4.609
12- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 4.988
13- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 5.070
14- Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 5.247
15- Hiroshi Aoyama – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 5.867
16- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 5.888
17- Carlos Checa – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 5.922