Sepang MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa tops practice one for Honda
Honda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa set the pace in the opening practice session for the penultimate race of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang
Pedrosa, who won at the circuit in 2012 and '13, set his best lap of 2m00.412s inside the first 10 minutes.
Title protagonist Jorge Lorenzo ended up second fastest, 0.210 seconds down on Pedrosa, moving up above the other Honda rider Marc Marquez with just under 18 minutes left.
Championship leader Valentino Rossi completed the top four, half a second down on Pedrosa.
The two British Honda riders were next up, with Scott Redding moving into fifth for the Marc VDS team with five minutes remaining and LCR's Cal Crutchlow taking sixth before the end.
Crutchlow had crashed at Turn 5 with just 12 minutes left on the clock but went straight back out on his second bike to set his best time.
Andrea Iannone was seventh as the leading Ducati rider, in front of Open class Ducati man Hector Barbera, Suzuki's Aleix Espargaro and his own team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
Bradley Smith had a quiet session on his Tech 3 Yamaha, 1.9s down in 15th place.
Alvaro Bautista joined Crutchlow in crashing during the session, going down at Turn 15 on his Aprilia at around the same time.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 2m00.412s | - | 16 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2m00.622s | 0.210s | 14 |
| 3 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 2m00.736s | 0.324s | 17 |
| 4 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2m00.915s | 0.503s | 17 |
| 5 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 2m01.218s | 0.806s | 17 |
| 6 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 2m01.235s | 0.823s | 15 |
| 7 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 2m01.421s | 1.009s | 17 |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2m01.616s | 1.204s | 13 |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 2m01.741s | 1.329s | 15 |
| 10 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 2m01.917s | 1.505s | 17 |
| 11 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2m01.957s | 1.545s | 17 |
| 12 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 2m02.258s | 1.846s | 15 |
| 13 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 2m02.259s | 1.847s | 18 |
| 14 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 2m02.314s | 1.902s | 17 |
| 15 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 2m02.323s | 1.911s | 18 |
| 16 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 2m02.590s | 2.178s | 16 |
| 17 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2m03.072s | 2.660s | 15 |
| 18 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 2m03.136s | 2.724s | 16 |
| 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 2m03.228s | 2.816s | 14 |
| 20 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2m03.394s | 2.982s | 14 |
| 21 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 2m03.429s | 3.017s | 14 |
| 22 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 2m03.938s | 3.526s | 16 |
| 23 | Toni Elias | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 2m04.496s | 4.084s | 16 |
| 24 | Anthony West | AB Motoracing | Honda | 2m05.793s | 5.381s | 17 |
| 25 | Damian Cudlin | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 2m07.552s | 7.140s | 14 |
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