Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has continued his strong MotoGP form in Brno, topping the time sheets on the first day of free practice.
Pedrosa was fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions, but was a victim of a strange incident in FP1 when a rider in front of him strayed slightly off track, kicking stones into his path.
Such was the impact that the stones smashed Dani’s front screen on his Honda and stones also hit his helmet and left foot. The Spanish rider was left limping after the impact, but solidered on to finish the session at the top of the time sheets.
Pedrosa managed to shake of the pain in time for FP2 and traded fastest laps throughout the session with Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo. He eventually came out on top with a 1m56.858 time.
With his Australian team-mate Casey Stoner out of action due to an ankle injury he sustained at Indianapolis, Pedrosa was pleased with his day’s progress, but admitted his Honda team still has work.
“Today we spent time working on the tyres and set up of the bike,” he explained.
“We were trying to get the maximum time on the track, as tomorrow we don’t know how the weather will be so it was important to have a lot of time in the dry.
“The feelings were improving but we still have some work to do especially with electronics and suspension.”
Lorenzo set the second fastest time in both sessions, despite an off-track moment in the FP2.
Tech 3 Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso was third in both, shadowed by his team-mate Cal Crutchlow.
Practice results, Brno.
Free Practice 1
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 308.0 | 1’57.003 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 303.6 | 1’57.149 | 0.146 / 0.146 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 304.1 | 1’57.189 | 0.186 / 0.040 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 301.0 | 1’57.418 | 0.415 / 0.229 |
| 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 302.3 | 1’57.446 | 0.443 / 0.028 |
| 6 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 305.1 | 1’57.501 | 0.498 / 0.055 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 301.8 | 1’58.171 | 1.168 / 0.670 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 304.4 | 1’58.345 | 1.342 / 0.174 |
| 9 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 290.2 | 1’58.667 | 1.664 / 0.322 |
| 10 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 286.1 | 1’59.256 | 2.253 / 0.589 |
| 11 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 305.0 | 1’59.256 | 2.253 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 284.1 | 1’59.504 | 2.501 / 0.248 |
| 13 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 305.9 | 1’59.881 | 2.878 / 0.377 |
| 14 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 288.5 | 2’00.206 | 3.203 / 0.325 |
| 15 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 289.5 | 2’00.531 | 3.528 / 0.325 |
| 16 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 286.9 | 2’00.715 | 3.712 / 0.184 |
| 17 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 283.0 | 2’01.302 | 4.299 / 0.587 |
| 18 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 285.8 | 2’02.171 | 5.168 / 0.869 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 270.2 | 2’02.244 | 5.241 / 0.073 |
Free Practice 2
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 307.6 | 1’56.858 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 301.8 | 1’56.911 | 0.053 / 0.053 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 302.9 | 1’57.055 | 0.197 / 0.144 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 300.6 | 1’57.215 | 0.357 / 0.160 |
| 5 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 304.1 | 1’57.250 | 0.392 / 0.035 |
| 6 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 302.1 | 1’57.315 | 0.457 / 0.065 |
| 7 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 304.3 | 1’57.573 | 0.715 / 0.258 |
| 8 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 300.2 | 1’57.790 | 0.932 / 0.217 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 287.2 | 1’59.185 | 2.327 / 1.395 |
| 10 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 305.8 | 1’59.228 | 2.370 / 0.043 |
| 11 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 304.8 | 1’59.251 | 2.393 / 0.023 |
| 12 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 286.6 | 1’59.498 | 2.640 / 0.247 |
| 13 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 285.0 | 1’59.833 | 2.975 / 0.335 |
| 14 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 283.2 | 1’59.886 | 3.028 / 0.053 |
| 15 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 285.6 | 2’00.258 | 3.400 / 0.372 |
| 16 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 286.9 | 2’00.296 | 3.438 / 0.038 |
| 17 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 283.3 | 2’00.773 | 3.915 / 0.477 |
| 18 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 284.2 | 2’01.137 | 4.279 / 0.364 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 270.5 | 2’01.625 | 4.767 / 0.488 |
