Motegi MotoGP: Yamaha's Lorenzo fastest again, Rossi eighth

The Yamaha rider led the way in the morning, and was on top for the majority of the afternoon running.

Having set a time of 1m45.535s early, he improved to 1m45.426s, which was one-tenth clear of the field entering the final five minutes.

With four minutes remaining, running a soft-compound option rear tyre, Bradley Smith jumped to the top with a lap of 1m45.250s.

He only stayed there for 90 seconds, though, as three-time Motegi winner Lorenzo became the first rider to dip below the 1m45s barrier with a 1m44.731s effort.

It was good enough to top the session, 0.128 seconds clear of Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who jumped up from 10th in the order with 30 seconds remaining.

Ducati riders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso also improved in the closing stages to finish third and fourth, relegating Smith to fifth.

Aleix Espargaro was sixth for Suzuki, ahead of Marc Marquez and Rossi.

Marquez survived a wild moment at Turn 8 with 15 minutes remaining, while Loris Baz and Yamaha wildcard rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga both crashed at Turn 11 in separate incidents.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES:

Pos	Rider	Team	Bike	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Yamaha	1m44.731s	-	15
2	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Honda	1m44.859s	0.128s	20
3	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	Ducati	1m45.043s	0.312s	19
4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	Ducati	1m45.059s	0.328s	18
5	Bradley Smith	Tech 3	Yamaha	1m45.250s	0.519s	19
6	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki	Suzuki	1m45.348s	0.617s	16
7	Marc Marquez	Honda	Honda	1m45.492s	0.761s	15
8	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	Yamaha	1m45.554s	0.823s	19
9	Pol Espargaro	Tech 3	Yamaha	1m45.597s	0.866s	19
10	Hector Barbera	Avintia Racing	Ducati	1m45.645s	0.914s	19
11	Cal Crutchlow	LCR	Honda	1m45.846s	1.115s	17
12	Scott Redding	Marc VDS	Honda	1m46.074s	1.343s	20
13	Maverick Vinales	Suzuki	Suzuki	1m46.464s	1.733s	17
14	Jack Miller	LCR	Honda	1m46.477s	1.746s	17
15	Yonny Hernandez	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1m46.563s	1.832s	16
16	Danilo Petrucci	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1m46.648s	1.917s	18
17	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia Gresini	Aprilia	1m46.649s	1.918s	16
18	Takumi Takahashi	Honda	Honda	1m46.650s	1.919s	20
19	Eugene Laverty	Aspar	Honda	1m46.770s	2.039s	18
20	Nicky Hayden	Aspar	Honda	1m46.827s	2.096s	16
21	Mike Di Meglio	Avintia Racing	Ducati	1m46.934s	2.203s	15
22	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia Gresini	Aprilia	1m46.974s	2.243s	19
23	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	Yamaha	Yamaha	1m47.096s	2.365s	14
24	Loris Baz	Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	1m47.219s	2.488s	17
25	Toni Elias	Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	1m47.689s	2.958s	18
26	Alex de Angelis	IodaRacing Project	ART/Aprilia	1m48.572s	3.841s	14
27	Kosuke Akiyoshi	AB Motoracing	Honda	1m48.769s	4.038s	15