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MotoGP Motegi: Lorenzo fastest in opening session

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was the quickest rider during the opening MotoGP free practice session in Motegi, after a 1’45.432 on his final lap in sunny conditions this morning.

The rider initially set the pace with a 1’45.654 to top the timesheets after ten minutes on the clock. The former champion is nursing a shoulder injury after a ‘training incident’ last weekend, but it didn’t appear to affect him that much during the session.

Lorenzo kept progressing and shaved two tenths of his best time on the twelve minute mark on the soft front and soft rear tyres. But his team-mate Valentino Rossi was not far off the pace and was up to P2, only 0.3s off the Spaniard with ten minutes remaining.

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But after a few minutes Ducati’s Andrea Iannone went quicker than Rossi and slotted into P2 with a 1’45.827. At the flag Rossi slipped back to third on the sheets after a 1’45.844 - four tenths off the best time of fellow Yamaha rider, Lorenzo.

Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith put down a hot lap just as the flag appeared at the side of the track, but it was good enough to propel him to fourth quickest after a 1’45.888 rotation. With the English rider bettering his time it pushed Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa down to fifth overall.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is still recovering from recent surgery, after breaking a bone in his hand after a mountain bike crash. But the double-champ looked like he could of been slightly hindered by his injury in the opening session, as he only posted a time that was seventh fastest on the medium front and soft rear tyre compound, which was the same tyre choice as used by Rossi.

British rider’s; LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, Scott Redding and Aspar’s Eugene Laverty ended the first timed session in Japan in eleventh, sixteenth and 25th respectively.

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