FIM MotoGP World Championship

Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina

April 1, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:41.579

2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:41.604

3. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:42.047

4. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:42.375

5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:42.451

6. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:42.458

7. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:42.565

8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:42.576

9. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:42.595

10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.635

11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:42.664

12. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 1:42.724

13. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:42.774

14. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:42.819

15. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.953

16. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 1:43.054

17. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:43.242

18. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:43.538

19. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:43.800

20. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:43.892

21. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), no time recorded

More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing:

Miller flies to fantastic fourth in Argentina practice

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller overcame hot and humid temperatures and a dirty and slippery track surface to play a starring role on the opening day of MotoGP action in Argentina.

Much of this morning’s FP1 was spent waiting for grip levels on the greasy 4.608km track to improve, with no racing activity taking place at the Termas de Rio Hondo venue since last December.

Australian Miller coped exceptionally well with the less than ideal grip levels to set the benchmark time for a period in FP1 before he ended the opening 45-minute session in eighth.

That was just a sign of things to come though from the impressive 21-year-old, who put in a sensational performance in FP2 to improve his pace by almost two seconds. A best lap of 1.42.375 was only bettered by Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Maverick Vinales on a great opening day for Honda, who occupied four of the top five places on the combined leaderboard.

With stormy weather forecast for tomorrow, Miller’s outstanding performance could already be good enough to have secured him an all-important place in Q2.

Lap times were well over four seconds off last year’s fastest race pace this morning and as a result rookie Tito Rabat opted for a risk free approach while adjusting his lines and braking markers on the Honda RC213V machine.

Rabat quickly mastered the rapidly improving track conditions and at one stage in FP2 he’d climbed up to 12th with an improvement of close to 2.5s from FP1.

He ended the day 18th overall but satisfied with progress made in helping him gain more confidence on the RC213v machine.

Jack Miller: 4th – 1’42.375

“I am really happy with how today went. The bike seems to be working very well here. It is not only the fact that I’m fast, but I am also consistent and strong on used tyres. Conditions are changing lap-by-lap but I’ve been able to adjust and I just hope now that we can build on this to have a strong weekend. The only close call I had was when I nearly ran into the back of Valentino Rossi at turn eight. He braked a little later and I thought I had more stopping power and we touched a little. I thought I might clean him out, but luckily it didn’t happen!”

Tito Rabat: 18th – 1’43.538

“I don’t think 18th on the timesheets reflects what a positive day it was here in Argentina. I feel I’ve made a step with my confidence on the bike but the gap to the top group is still too big. They are unbelievably fast but I have to look at the positives and we are making progress. I am comfortable that I can be faster and closer and the encouraging thing of today was the level of Honda is very high. I’m trying my hardest to be up there too.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“Today was a fantastic day for us. The bike is clearly competitive with four of the top five riding a Honda and to see Jack in fourth is a brilliant performance and a great boost for the team. The track was very slippery this morning and to be honest I wasn’t sure if he would be as strong when the grip improved, so I have to congratulate Jack on an outstanding job. Tito is improving in every session and that is all we can ask of him at the moment. He is learning fast and it was a shame that he doesn’t have the experience or confidence to push harder on the soft tyre at the end of the session because I think he deserved to be higher up the rankings.”

More, from a press release Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Smith kicks off round 2 fight positively on day one in Argentina

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith began his campaign at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina by taking the first solid steps forward on the opening day of action. After wrapping up the FP1 shakedown in 9th, the British rider continued his push in the afternoon, before setting a lap time that left him just 0.220 from fourth. He now looks on to tomorrow’s all-important qualifying, fully confident of clinching a top tier grid position.

Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro fought the challenging Termas de Rio Hondo circuit as he started setting up his Yamaha YZR-M1 for the 25 lap sprint. After gathering data and building speed, the young Spaniard set off in Free Practice 2, determined to close the day with a solid finish. His final time was eventually less than two tenths of a second from his teammate, yet his hopes of cutting the gap further were thwarted when he fell at the first corner in the final moments of the session. Nevertheless, the 25 year old optimistically awaits the qualifying shootout tomorrow.

Bradley Smith

Position : 9th Time : 1’42.595 Laps : 34

Bradley Smith – 2016Bradley Smith “On the whole, the first day in Argentina has been quite positive. I feel that we made some good progress and now have a solid platform to move forward from. We had to face a lot of different conditions because the temperature and the grip changed considerably, so we needed to be attentive to these. In the morning, the circuit was dirty, so we used the session to clean up the track a bit and also learn how the tyres perform here. Then, in the afternoon it was much hotter and the track surface had warmed up by almost as much as 20 degrees. As a result, we were able to study the medium and hard tyre compounds. In the end, I was pleased with my final run and with being able to undertake a 1’42.5 lap time which meant that I finished inside the top ten. For tomorrow, we need to continue learning and assessing in order to get the hard tyres to work in the optimum way.”

Pol Espargaro

Position : 13th Time : 1’42.774 Laps : 34

Pol EspargaroPol Espargaro – 2016″In all honesty, the day has not been bad as it seems to be, yet for sure, it’s no reference point for the weekend as the times are a long way off last year’s performances. At the moment we are struggling to run 1’42’s and in 2015 the fastest lap in FP1 was 1’40.8. That is a clear indication of how dirty the surface is and all we can do is continue to ride on it in order to improve the grip level. Currently, it’s the Moto2 class on track and tomorrow morning there will be one more Moto3 session, so by the time we go out again, things might have improved. Still it’s a real pity about my two crashes today, we know exactly what went wrong and as soon as you are a little bit off line with these conditions, you can’t save the bike. For tomorrow, I hope that the weather changes slightly because some clouds would definitely help us because at the moment, the track temperature is pretty much the same as during the preseason tests in Sepang.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IN ARGENTINA FOR BRADL AND BAUTISTA’S APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES

A particularly slippery track awaited the MotoGP riders in Argentina, especially in the first practice session held this morning. The situation improved slightly in the afternoon, allowing the teams to begin the planned schedule for the race weekend.

After their début in Qatar, the Aprilia RS-GP machines are obviously making their first appearance on a brand new track, so they don’t have any specific points of reference and this is a factor that made the day particularly demanding. The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, were in any case able to collect fundamental data for the rest of the weekend, beginning to assess the evolutions (especially in terms of the electronics) that Aprilia introduced for this race.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“The track was very slippery today and this obviously created some problems for us. We must not forget that we are taking on a different track for the first time with a new bike. We definitely need to improve, working both on the bike and trusting that grip on the track will get better. The biggest difficulties have to do with the front end. I am lacking confidence, especially toward the end of the session when the tyre begins to wear. In any case it is still extremely important for us to lap, for our development project and to get to know this bike”.

STEFAN BRADL

“It was not an easy day. The conditions were less than ideal with the track quite dirty and the high temperatures. We struggled with the tyres, especially on the front, precisely because of the conditions, and apparently we weren’t the only ones to have this problem. I also felt a significant difference between the two bikes I used, but I think we just need to check the data to fix that. Tomorrow I am expecting a general improvement, both in our setup and in the asphalt conditions. We’ll have to wait to see what the weather is going to do. The forecast says the temperature should drop and that would be a good thing for us”.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

A good start for Redding: 6th in FP2. Pirro ready to fight: he’ll be on track tomorrow

A very positive start for Octo Pramac Yakhnich in second 2016 Motogp week end. At the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, in fact, Scott Redding ended up sixth fastest despite the track conditions were not the best. The circuit was very dusty and slippery in the morning while in the afternoon the situation has slightly improved.

Scott, meanwhile, has gone well beyond low grip problems. After a good start in the morning Fp1, turning constantly and finishing 10th, 6 thents of a second from the fastest laptime of Andrea Dovizioso, in Fp2 Scott immediately gave the feeling of being able to take a step forward and stay with the lead group . His performance grew steadily and on lap 16th, Scott passed under the checkered flag with the time of 1’42.458 which earned him sixth place.

Scott Redding arrives with great confidence to Saturday’s qualification in the second round of 2016 MotoGP season. Great ambitions even for Michele Pirro, who after concluding the Ducati test at Valencia arrived this afternoon in Termas de Rio Hondo ready to fight with the Octo Pramac Yakhnic Ducati Desmosedici GP # 51.

6° – Scott Redding – 1’42.458

The feeling is not as we want it. I have a good feeling with the bike but still have not found the right confidence with the tires. We have improved working a bit on set up but I would not really change the bike too much as the circuit conditions are constantly changing. With the new tires things go well, especially under braking, but after 2 or 3 laps the grip drops very much and the risk of losing the front is high.

In Qatar I was unable to replicate the performances of the tests. Here I am really enjoying even though the circuit conditions are not the best. The goal for tomorrow is to go directly into Q2 and improve my qualification compared to Qatar. First 2-3 rows would be a great achievement to be able to start the race well and staying ahead.

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA START ACTION AT SLIPPERY ARGENTINA FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team began action at the Termas de Río Hondo Circuit today ahead of this weekend‘s Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina. Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo tested the new Michelin tyres at the very hot and still somewhat dirty South American track for the first time and finished the day in seventh and fourteenth place respectively in the combined times.

Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), 1st April 2016

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were on track today at a sunny Termas de Río Hondo Circuit for the first free practice sessions. However, the day was overshadowed by a lack of grip, causing them to finish in seventh and fourteenth place respectively in the provisional overall free practice times.

Due to dirt on the track, Rossi‘s morning outing was largely spent on finding a solution to improve the grip-level, which will be key to being competitive in Sunday‘s race. The Doctor gained confidence as the session went on and he got used to the new tyres‘ behaviour, securing sixth place with a fastest lap of 1’44.181s.

Aware of tomorrow‘s forecasted rain, the Italian rider worked tirelessly in the afternoon to further improve his setting in order to secure a top10 finish. He left it until the final stages of the session to put on some new tyres and make his move. He was able to better his time to a 1’42.565s and wrapped up the session in seventh place.

Teammate Lorenzo had a cautious start on his first laps in the morning session as he tried to get a feel for the low-grip conditions. With his mind set on duplicating his performance at Qatar, he began to work on the setting and improved his time consistently until the end of FP1. His best time of 1’44.742s left him 12th in the morning standings.

As the conditions heated up even more in the afternoon, Lorenzo picked up work were he left off in the morning. He focused on getting a better feeling with the front tyre and started the session on used tyres to perfect his set-up before pushing hard to set a hot lap on new hard tyres at the end of FP2. He soon moved up to third in the provisional rankings with a 1’42.819s lap, but as times dropped at the end of the session, Lorenzo was unable to respond and ended the day in 14th position.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammates will be back in action tomorrow at 09:55 AM local track time.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

It‘s been a difficult start of the weekend for each of our two riders in both sessions, FP1 and FP2. We focused our work on improving the lack of confidence in the front and managed to partly rectify the issue but we couldn‘t fix it entirely during these two sessions. The track conditions were quite challenging due to the heat, the dirt and the bumps. The track conditions were worse than last year and these aspects surely didn‘t help us. It is fundamental to understand what is causing this issue and prepare a counter measure for tomorrow‘s FP3, when we will also start working on tyre choice for the race. I have confidence in the capability of our engineers, we will be ready for the qualifying session.

VALENTINO ROSSI

Difficult day for everybody because these were challenging conditions. The track was very dirty and in the afternoon it became better but it remained very slippery and also the temperature was very high so it was difficult to maintain the pace lap by lap. It looks like we suffered a bit with the lack of grip on the track, we slide and also the front tyre was not very good. We need to work, so from this moment we need to improve the setting step by step and hope the track will become better and that the weather conditions will become more cold but not wet.

JORGE LORENZO

The track is much worse than last year and I don‘t know why. There are some more bumps and less grip. It looks like our rivals are a lot better under these conditions. We have to understand what we can do to be fast with our bike. We hope it doesn‘t rain tomorrow and that the tarmac improves a little bit. Let‘s see if we can work on the bike to make it a more comfortable to ride.

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Marquez and Pedrosa lead the timesheet on first day in Argentina

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa showed great form on day one at the Argentine GP, topping the FP2 timesheet with the first and second best lap times, respectively. The Repsol Honda duo was separated by a mere 25 thousandths of a second. With Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow finishing fourth and fifth, Honda riders occupied four of the five spots today.

Working with their crews on electronics and bike setup, Marquez and Pedrosa built on the positive work they had already carried out in the morning’s FP1 session. The afternoon was challenging, with greasy, slippery track conditions prompted by the soaring temperatures (33° C air, 55° ground) but the team made the most of the situation.

FP3 will commence tomorrow at 09:55 with weather forecast threatening rain.

Marc Marquez

1ST 1’41.579

“Today was a bit of a strange day, but the feeling was good in the end and we finished first on the timesheets. I think that the conditions will change a lot during the weekend, even from the first to the second session we saw the surface improve, although not as much as we had expected. So far track conditions are worse than last season so it seems that the times will be a long way off those from last year, but it will be the same for everyone and we are trying to manage it in the best way possible and adapt the bike as best we can.”

Dani Pedrosa

2ND 1’41.604

“On this first day we were able to ride on a dry track, and we saw that it was very dirty. It was a little difficult and the times were a little slower than we had expected. However, we worked as hard as we could with the setup of the bike, and we also made several tyre tests in case it will be raining tomorrow. It was a positive day, but as always we will try to keep improving.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

Eugene Laverty less than a tenth outside top ten

ASPAR Team riders complete first day in Argentina with clear ideas for qualifying

Termas de Río Hondo welcomed MotoGP back to Argentina today although the track conditions were not as good as they have been in past seasons here, which was evident on the timing screens. The fastest riders on track today were Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa, who had a close battle that was decided by a few thousandths of a second. The Spanish pair led a late charge for lap times as the riders tried to potentially put themselves directly into Q2, with local weather forecasts predicting rain for tomorrow’s final free practices. The top ten were separated by a little over a second today, making for an interesting day of practice and qualifying to come tomorrow.

ASPAR Team rider Eugene Laverty was less than a tenth of a second off that elusive top ten, which would have given him a pass into Q2 should FP3 be washed out tomorrow. The Irishman reported minimal front grip levels today, which caused him to suffer a small crash, although he escaped unhurt. Yonny Hernández also crashed in the second session after swerving to avoid Pol Espargaró, who braked early into a corner. Hernández had lapped third fastest in the opening session but dropped positions this afternoon after only improving by eight tenths, although he is confident his team will have an optimum set-up in place for tomorrow.

12th Eugene Laverty 1.42.724 (29 laps): “Both practices were good in the end, with good lap times. The conditions are really slippery so it is going to be interesting to see if it improves tomorrow but at the moment we are in a good position. The biggest problem I think everybody is having is with the front tyre. It is so slippery and I had a front-end crash in FP2 so that was a tough lesson. With the rain forecast tomorrow I was pushing hard at the end of the session to try and make Q2 and in the end I missed it by 0.09 seconds so I am very close and we’ll just have to try again in the morning if it’s dry.”

17th Yonny Hernández 1.43.242 (27 laps): “The feeling is really good here, we have a very fast and competitive bike. Before the crash I had set some red sectors, which is really positive. I came up behind Pol Espargaró, I didn’t expect him to brake so early and I had to swerve to avoid him. There was a lot of dirt off line and I lost the rear and crashed. We know the reason why and my pace is good so tomorrow we will give our best to be fighting at the top. We know we have a bike that works so in the end I decided to come in and save something for tomorrow, when we will give it everything and be where we can be. When I was setting that fast lap I was using the hard front tyre, which feels a lot better. The crash was a shame but at least we know which tyre to use tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

Avintia Racing riders, Hector Barbera and Loris Baz, finished the first day of practice for the Grand Prix of Argentina 11th and 16th, respectively. In addition to the searing heat and humidity, the track conditions were far from the ideal to try to do a fast lap on a MotoGP bike. Lot of sand was on the surface after several months without a race at the circuit of Termas de Rio Hondo. Because of the grassy asphalt, in the first practice session the lap times were really far from 2014 Marquez’s qualifying lap and, although everybody improved in the afternoon, the lap times still almost four seconds slower than the record.

In addition, the flu Hector Barbera has been suffering since he landed in Argentina, made things difficult for the Avintia Racing Spanish rider, and he was not able to get into the top 10. His teammate Loris Baz started to work steadily and without taking risks. He improved his lap times every time he was on track and finished 16th overall. The low grip levels were an issue for him and together with his crew chief, he decided to keep the bike without big changes, waiting for a better grip level tomorrow.

Hector Barbera | 1’42.664 | P11

“Today was a difficult day because I’ve never ride the bike before under these conditions. I’ll be better resting in my bed, with fever and taking a lot of medicines. So, I want to thank to the doctors, because they made possible that today I could ride my bike. I’ve been the last two days in bed, I have headache, I’m a little bit dizzy, my hears are blocked, I’m very congested and without strength… To be honest, it’s a real shame to start the weekend like this, but the day has finished and I hope to feel a little bit better tomorrow. The position is not bad if we consider that I was able to complete just one fast lap, so in normal conditions I think that my position should be closer to the front. I take the positive, I could ride the bike.”

Loris Baz | 1’43.054 | P16

“To be honest, the track was really dirty to ride a MotoGP bike, but if we were racing in motocross, then should be perfect. But this is the same for every body and we had to adapt in every exit. It was difficult to work on the bike set up because we know the conditions will improve tomorrow as it happened last year. Anyway we always want to improve when we are on the bike and we did quite a lot from the morning session. I didn’t want to take risks trying to push a little bit more, because today was really easy to crash as we could see with some riders. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, we are just 0.4s from the top 10 and I’m confident that with more grip, it would be possible to get closer.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Marquez flies as Lorenzo struggles

Mighty Marc Marquez fended off all challengers to hold onto the top spot of FP2 ahead of Pedrosa and Viñales.

Temperatures soared for MotoGP™ FP2, the track reaching a staggering 53°C with ambient temperatures at 32.2°C the session proved as much of a physical challenge as any session in Sepang.

Most of the Honda and Suzuki riders went out on new tyres while Movistar Yamaha MotoGP focused on using older Michelins in the opening stage of the session. Aside from tyre life and performance, weather remains a great unknown in Argentina with heavy rain predicted on Saturday and Sunday at the Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina. If it were to rain on Saturday during FP3, then the top ten from Friday would be guaranteed to advance directly to Q2.

With 11 and a half minute to go, riders fitted new tyres and went out with their eyes focused on the top of the time sheets. Fastest of them all was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) with a 1’41.579, 2.2 seconds faster than in FP1. While Marquez may have had massive problems during testing and for much of the Qatar GP weekend, they seem to have left in Argentina.

It was not just Marquez who proved that the Honda is still a top tier bike, his teammate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) ended only 0.025s behind him. This is just Pedrosa’s second time at the track, having missed the 2015 edition due to arm pump surgery. The Repsol Honda pair were the only riders able to set times in the 1’41s.

Completing the top three was Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who set a 1’42.047 after going down at Turn 3. Just behind Viñales was his good friend Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), the Australian back to being almost fully fit and looking stronger than ever. It wasn’t a flawless session for Miller however; he narrowly avoided contact with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) mid-session: “He braked late, I thought I was okay but he had more stopping power and we touched. I’m glad I didn’t clean him up!” said Miller.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) improved from 20th in FP1 to end FP2, and the day overall, in fifth. The Brit able to cut close to four seconds off his time and make it four Hondas in the top five, an incredible result after their struggles in Qatar.

Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completed the top ten and ensured themselves a spot in Q2 if the rain falls tomorrow.

Meanwhile it was a disastrous session for Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), the World Champion down in 14th and 1.240 seconds off the pace. The slippery conditions of the track hurt him more than the other riders, his characteristically smooth style not working at all on the dusty track. Improving his time by just less than two seconds clearly wasn’t enough for the Majorcan who now sets his target as avoiding running in Q1. But with the weather rapidly closing in around the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, he may be unable to accomplish this goal. Lorenzo has proved on countless occasions that a poor grid position can’t stop him and no doubt he’ll be able to progress through the field on Sunday regardless. If it were to rain this would also be the first chance for riders in the premier class to test Michelin’s wet weather offerings, having only had limited runs during testing and never raced on them. It’s looking like an uphill battle for Jorge Lorenzo.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) also struggled and was only able to manage 15th.

Aleix Espargaro suffered an early fall at Turn 9 while pushing for a fast lap. He then fell towards the end of the session at Turn 1. Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) fell at Turn 13 after carrying far too much speed into the corner. All were unharmed and returned to the track soon after their falls.

Michele Pirro, who will fill in for Danilo Petrucci in the Octo Pramac Yakhnich team while Petrucci recovers from further hand surgery, was not present as he had been assisting Ducati at a WorldSBK test in Valencia. He will join the field for FP3 onwards.

Zarco remains in control in Argentina

Johann Zarco continued his fine form from FP1 to top FP2 and the day from Takaaki Nakagami and Sam Lowes.

After a positive morning session, riders in the Moto2™ World Championship were back out on track with arguably the best conditions of the day. While temperatures may have continued to rise, more and more rubber had been laid down and grip continued to improve. Throughout the session riders were able to improve their times with almost every lap, edging closer and closer to the record pace of the previous year.

Leading the way once again at the Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina was reigning Moto2™ World Champion, Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport). A final lap of 1’44.533 cemented the French rider at the top of the table, improving his FP1 time by half a second. 2015 saw Zarco take his first win of the season, spurring on his title charge. His start to the Argentina GP in 2016 is even stronger than in 2015, his time slower due to a lesser track condition. The Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is rarely used outside of the Grand Prix and as such takes a long time to bed in.

Nabbing second was Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), the Japanese rider 0.190s behind Zarco. Nakagami has not always had the pace to battle for victory but has the ability to be a cat amongst the pigeons at almost any round.

Third fastest was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who set his fastest lap towards the end of the session. Lowes is quickly developing a reputation as a rider who builds to his fastest times, especially in Free Practice, striking right at the end. Luck was not on his side in Qatar, but there’s little doubt the Brit will be a podium challenger come race day.

Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) again showed well as he concluded the opening day of practice in Argentina in fourth. The German was only 0.105s behind Nakagami but a mere 0.048s behind Folger was Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS). The Spaniard has had a mixed time in Moto2™ so far but is beginning to be a consistent challenger towards the front.

Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia), Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Danny Kent (Leopard Racing), Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) and Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) completed a tight top ten who were within 0.590s of each other.

There was an early fall for Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team) at Turn 13, he was unharmed.

The Beast awakens in Argentina as Bastianini tops Moto3™

Enea Bastianini ends Friday topping both FP1 and FP2 with Fenati and Migno making it an all-Italian top three.

Having topped the timing tables in FP1, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) headed into Free Practice 2 full of anticipation. The opening practice session saw riders in the Moto3™ World Championship struggle for grip, the rear of their machines spinning up due to the fine dust on the circuit. With both the MotoGP™ and Moto2™ classes having had a session on track, the circuit was in a much better condition and Bastianini’s 1’52.467 quickly fell as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took command early in the session.

With rain and thunderstorms predicted for the coming days, these sessions could be the only dry track time the riders get. Fortunately, it is far easier to go from a dry setting to a wet setting than the reverse, even just two sessions providing a good base of data for teams and riders to work with.

By mid-session all but two riders had improved their times, Bastianini back on top. ‘The Beast’ would remain unbeaten as he continued his fine form at the track to lead both FP1 and FP2. His 1’51.137 was still over two seconds off the circuit record, but did show significant improvement from the morning session.

Just behind were Sky Racing Team VR46 teammates Romano Fenati and Andrea Migno, the pair within 0.166s of their countrymen. Fenati took a hard fought victory at the Termas de Rio Hondo back in 2014 and is aiming to once again take to the top step of the box after a disappointing Qatar.

Brad Binder continued his hard work, completing 16 laps and setting the fourth fastest lap time of Friday, a 1’51.350. So far in 2016 Binder has been a near perfect teammate to Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), allowing the rookie to follow him and learn the tracks of the World Championship.

Completing the top five was Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0), the Spaniard only 0.274s back on Bastianini. Overall it was an incredibly close session with the top 15 all within a second of the top.

Livio Loi (RW Racing GP BV), Juanfran Guevara (RBA Racing Team), Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing), Philipp Oettl (Schedl GP Racing) and rookie Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) rounded out the top ten.

There was an early fall for Tatsuki Suzuki (CIP-Unicom Starker) at Turn 9, he was uninjured and re-joined the session. Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) suffered a late fall at Turn 1 and was also able to walk away unhurt.

Saturday the second of April will see Moto3™ out on track first for FP3 at 09:00 Local Time.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaró both showed strong podium pace in today’s opening Free Practice sessions at round two of the 2016 MotoGP™ World Championship in Argentina.

At the end of the day the timesheets saw Viñales put his GSX-RR into third position with a time of 1’42.047, as team-mate Espargaró moved up to eight with a 1’42.576 lap-time.

The day started with both riders determined in the heat of Termas de Rio Hondo, where the track was very dirty and very hard to ride: The lines had to be cleared by the MotoGP riders before lap-times dropped. But Viñales and Espargaró both managed to make solid progress, exploiting the improvements introduced on their GSX-RRs; and their performances improved lap-after-lap.

The hot temperatures reached the circuit in the early afternoon, with the track temperatures measuring more than 55°C, which made their physical performances even harder. Despite the usage on-track, the dirty conditions of the asphalt didn’t improve much, and this finally resulted in both riders incurring three crashes; two for Espargaró and one for Viñales, fortunately without major injury and damage to the riders and machines.

The positive note, under tough conditions today, is that both riders rode consistently in the top-part of the classification, showing their performances were solid and that the progress-path is moving forward.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“The track today was very dirty; this made the riders’ job very hard. Also the temperature, especially in the afternoon, got very hot, but luckily this didn’t prevent us having a positive day. Maverick has been consistently among the fastest since the very beginning, improving his confidence progressively but already close to the top. I’m also happy that Aleix could make a step forward and settle among the fastest as well; in Qatar he was missing the confidence, while here it seems he could find a proper way to exploit his riding skills. They both incurred into crashes, but they are mainly due to the track conditions as it was very easy to find dirty track outside the lines, but despite this we must be happy for the day and positive for the upcoming sessions.”

Maverick Viñales:

“I feel we did a good job today, we did many steps forward and according to the conditions of the track we settled with a good pace. The crash was my fault, I went a little wide in a corner and I found some dirt on the ground; it was a minor crash and with the track in these conditions it was very easy to incur such a mistake. The job we have done today is very important; we settled a good pace and also the fast-lap is not bad. We tried two sets of tyres and I feel confident with the feeling I have both on worn and on new tyres. We still need to work a lot, the track conditions are a little tricky because it’s like walking on eggs, therefore all riders may do big steps forward. Also, the weather is uncertain for tomorrow, it’s a matter to wait and see if it will rain and if the grip on asphalt will improve. We have to be ready to adapt quickly, but for the moment, the progress we have made makes me feel comfortable.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“I am very, very happy because finally the feeling with the bike is awesome! I had two minor crashes but they were probably due to the enthusiasm, because finally after a very hard weekend in Qatar, I found my confidence back with my GSX-RR. I have a lot of confidence with the rear tyre, the grip is very good, but we still need to work on the front. As said, I like to brake hard and plunge into the corners fast; we made improvements on this from Qatar, but still we have some room for improvement. The track today was very bad, so dirty and slippery, which doesn’t allow us to really compare the data with last year. Because of this, I am also a little worried for tomorrow because if it will rain, the track will become really difficult with all this dirt. However, we are doing a very good job, I’m so happy I found the feeling back and I can’t wait for tomorrow to continue the improvements.”