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MotoGP Jerez: Dani Pedrosa leads Honda-dominated second practice

Dani Pedrosa led the way in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, as Honda's MotoGP riders dominated again and Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo found form.

After Pedrosa topped a Honda-dominated order in Friday morning's wet first practice session at Jerez, its riders featured heavily throughout the afternoon session run in dry conditions.

For the bulk of the 45 minutes a Honda rider was at the top, and with 10 minutes remaining Pedrosa led LCR's Cal Crutchlow and reigning world champion Marc Marquez.

Pedrosa was the first into the sub-1m41s barrier, with a 1m40.840s and then the 1m40.542s that led the way as new-tyre runs started.

Lorenzo was the first big mover on his Ducati, vaulting from 14th to second with a lap just 0.062 seconds slower than Pedrosa.

The three-time world champion improved again the next time around to a 1m40.291s and displaced Pedrosa at the top, but his time there was fleeting.

Crutchlow and then Pedrosa moved back ahead of Lorenzo in the closing minutes, the latter going well clear with a 1m39.420s that was not bettered.

Marc VDS Honda's Jack Miller jumped Crutchlow and finished up as Pedrosa's closest challenger, 0.554s adrift.

While those three Honda riders filled the top three places, Marquez dropped to 14th in the order after electing not to run new tyres.

Lorenzo wound up fourth, albeit 0.871s slower than Pedrosa, while Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci was fifth and Yamaha's Maverick Vinales sixth.

Yamaha tried its winglet-substitute fairing during the session, which started with a crash for Vinales.

The Spaniard lost the front end at Turn 9 after hitting a damp patch, while Aleix Espargaro and Karel Abraham also came unstuck in the early stages.

Vinales was 0.959s off the pace, while team-mate Valentino Rossi had another quiet session, the championship leader down in 12th place

Avintia Ducati's Alvaro Bautista was seventh, one place ahead of factory rider Andrea Dovizioso.

Espargaro regrouped from his early crash to finish ninth-fastest for Aprilia, just ahead of his brother Pol Espargaro, in an encouraging session for MotoGP newcomer KTM.

Running KTM's revamped engine, Espargaro was 1.059s slower than Pedrosa, with team-mate Bradley Smith 18th.

The best of the Suzukis was Andrea Iannone in 16th, having trailed test rider and injury stand-in Takuya Tsuda until the closing stages.

SECOND PRACTICE TIMES:

Pos Rider Team Gap Laps
1 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m39.420s 20
2 Jack Miller MVDS Honda 0.544s 20
3 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 0.625s 19
4 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 0.871s 20
5 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 0.958s 19
6 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 0.959s 16
7 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati 0.972s 21
8 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1.008s 18
9 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1.059s 17
10 Pol Espargaro KTM 1.153s 15
11 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati 1.219s 19
12 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1.278s 20
13 Jonas Folger Tech3 Yamaha 1.353s 20
14 Marc Marquez Honda 1.495s 19
15 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha 1.599s 17
16 Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1.745s 19
17 Tito Rabat MVDS Honda 1.745s 20
18 Bradley Smith KTM 2.012s 20
19 Takuya Tsuda Suzuki 2.467s 19
20 Sam Lowes Aprilia 2.485s 18
21 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati 2.489s 16
22 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati 3.095s 19
23 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati 3.210s 17


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