Lorenzo Leads The Way In FP1
- Oct 9, 2015
- 2 min read
The paddock returned to action this morning at the Twin Ring Motegi, in Japan, ahead of the fifteenth round of the 2015 World Championship. Conditions were near-perfect as the riders and teams set about looking for the optimal set-up for their machines around the 2.8-mile circuit.
Jorge Lorenzo came into FP1 a little nervous about the fitness of his shoulder following a training crash earlier in the week. It became apparent quickly that the Spaniard was suffering no major effects and was back to his old ways straight away. The Yamaha rider ended the session with a 1:45.432, some four tenths clear of the field.
Team-mate Valentino Rossi has to dig deep over these next three weekends if he is to keep his title hopes alive come Valencia in November. He set about his hunt for Lorenzo immediately, ending the session 3rd quickest with a lap of 1:45.844. His long-run pace on the soft tyre was consistently in the low 1:46s, which was about three tenths off of Lorenzo's pace. But this won't be of huge concern at this stage to the Italian, as it appears that he is pretty close already.
Andrea Iannone put in a very strong lap towards the end of the 45-minute session to go 2nd quickest on a 1:45.827. The Italian is struggling with a dislocated shoulder, and the high-braking nature of the Twin Ring Motegi will certainly put a lot of strain through that arm which will be nasty come Sunday. Team-mate Dovizioso was 6th quickest.
Marc Marquez is another rider carrying injury, and looked as if he was feeling it more than the others down in 7th. His fractured left hand won't be helped by the fact that his Honda will be quite a handful at the circuit. Dani Pedrosa ended the session slightly better in 5th.
Bradley Smith came out of the blocks swinging, ending FP1 4th fastest on a 1:45.888. With a number of the big names injured, the Tech 3 rider stands to benefit the most and could very well be in for a podium on Sunday. Team-mate Pol Espargaro was 9th, with Cal Crutchlow 11th and Scott Redding 16th.
Full FP1 results can be found here:
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