Mechanical problems have caused disruptions to Casey Stoner’s return to the MotoGP class at the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi.
While his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa set the fastest time in the second session, Stoner battled with technical and set-up issues that reduced his on-track running.
Stoner also admitted to not feeling 100 percent fit ahead of Sunday’s race – his return race from an ankle injury in August – but is confident he will improve as the weekend goes on.
“Today was a little disappointing. This morning we had our first bike fail on us so we lost valuable time, then in the second session we had a brake issue and spent a lot of time in the garage fixing that also,” the two-time world champion said.
“Of course I’m not feeling 100 percent as it is, so I wanted to get a reasonable feeling with it before I start pushing.
“At the moment the acceleration points are causing me most difficulty, as there are many areas at this circuit where the bike wants to wheelie and you need to keep your body and weight over the front of the bike. Unfortunately my foot doesn’t want to bend far enough to help me move forward so I’m having to pull myself forward which is giving me issues with my arms as they are working a lot harder than usual.
“We’ll keep working tomorrow and see what we can do.”
Pedrosa set the fastest time in the quicker second session ahead of championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso.
LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl set the fourth fastest time of the day despite a short run off track, ahead of Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi, who jumped up the timesheets with an unexpected hot lap towards the end.
The top CRT spot went to Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró.
Practice results, Japan
Practice 1
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 290.3 | 1’46.558 | |
| 2 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 297.8 | 1’46.699 | 0.141 / 0.141 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 292.2 | 1’46.919 | 0.361 / 0.220 |
| 4 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 291.6 | 1’47.316 | 0.758 / 0.397 |
| 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 293.4 | 1’47.328 | 0.770 / 0.012 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 290.6 | 1’47.366 | 0.808 / 0.038 |
| 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 300.2 | 1’47.551 | 0.993 / 0.185 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 294.2 | 1’47.561 | 1.003 / 0.010 |
| 9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 295.8 | 1’47.637 | 1.079 / 0.076 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 296.9 | 1’47.786 | 1.228 / 0.149 |
| 11 | 21 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | JPN | Yamaha YSP Racing Team | Yamaha | 288.1 | 1’48.390 | 1.832 / 0.604 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 293.2 | 1’49.106 | 2.548 / 0.716 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 284.4 | 1’49.160 | 2.602 / 0.054 |
| 14 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 287.6 | 1’49.265 | 2.707 / 0.105 |
| 15 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 282.9 | 1’49.354 | 2.796 / 0.089 |
| 16 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 283.5 | 1’50.184 | 3.626 / 0.830 |
| 17 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 272.7 | 1’50.268 | 3.710 / 0.084 |
| 18 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 289.7 | 1’50.771 | 4.213 / 0.503 |
| 19 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 276.6 | 1’51.039 | 4.481 / 0.268 |
| 20 | 84 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 283.9 | 1’51.225 | 4.667 / 0.186 |
| 21 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 277.9 | 1’52.044 | 5.486 / 0.819 |
| 22 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 273.6 | 1’52.188 | 5.630 / 0.144 |
Practice 2
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 307.8 | 1’46.088 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 294.1 | 1’46.190 | 0.102 / 0.102 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 294.0 | 1’46.282 | 0.194 / 0.092 |
| 4 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 294.2 | 1’46.428 | 0.340 / 0.146 |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 298.0 | 1’46.687 | 0.599 / 0.259 |
| 6 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 291.0 | 1’46.912 | 0.824 / 0.225 |
| 7 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 295.0 | 1’46.978 | 0.890 / 0.066 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 297.7 | 1’46.983 | 0.895 / 0.005 |
| 9 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 293.5 | 1’46.984 | 0.896 / 0.001 |
| 10 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 289.6 | 1’47.592 | 1.504 / 0.608 |
| 11 | 21 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | JPN | Yamaha YSP Racing Team | Yamaha | 291.3 | 1’47.801 | 1.713 / 0.209 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 283.7 | 1’48.232 | 2.144 / 0.431 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 286.1 | 1’48.470 | 2.382 / 0.238 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 285.3 | 1’48.757 | 2.669 / 0.287 |
| 15 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 283.2 | 1’48.770 | 2.682 / 0.013 |
| 16 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 285.5 | 1’49.539 | 3.451 / 0.769 |
| 17 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 283.5 | 1’49.652 | 3.564 / 0.113 |
| 18 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 274.9 | 1’49.770 | 3.682 / 0.118 |
| 19 | 84 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 287.7 | 1’50.292 | 4.204 / 0.522 |
| 20 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 289.4 | 1’50.333 | 4.245 / 0.041 |
| 21 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 281.4 | 1’50.924 | 4.836 / 0.591 |
| 22 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 278.6 | 1’51.270 | 5.182 / 0.346 |
