---
title: "Pedrosa heads Honda trio in FP2"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/09/23/pedrosa-heads-honda-trio-in-fp2/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2016-09-23T13:20:54Z"
modified: "2016-09-23T13:21:18Z"
---

# Pedrosa heads Honda trio in FP2

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has come into a real purple patch of late, and once again looks like a force to be reckoned with after topping the second MotoGP free practice session at MotorLand Aragon.

The Spaniard was a lowly 11th this morning, but sat atop of the time sheets for much of this afternoon’s 45-minute session, the hotter track temperatures undoubtedly playing into Pedrosa’s favour. He ended FP2 with a best lap of 1m48.429s, clocking that in the closing seconds of the session.

Teammate Marc Marquez was just a few hundredths adrift in second spot, though unlike Pedrosa he put in his best lap of the session on the hard rear Michelin tyre. With conditions set to get hotter as the weekend progresses, Marquez looks to have already elected his preferred compound for the race.

Completing the top three was LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, the Brno winner just under a tenth off of Pedrosa. The Briton struggled all session with stability under barking, running wide at the first corner on a number of occasions. So for his qualifying simulation, he opted for the new asymmetric hard front tyre and this seemed to cure his woes.

Valentino Rossi will be relatively satisfied with how his first day went in Aragon, though Yamaha will be left scratching their heads a little at the pace of the Hondas. The Italian ended the day fourth fastest on a 1m48.669s. Tech 3 Yamaha’s Pol Espargaro brushed off a crash at Turn 2 to complete the top five.

> Twitter: 20 minutes to go, #PE44 maintains 2nd place in this session but has crashed at turn 2.
>
> Up & walked away. #AragonGP https://t.co/1qgus7SXjY (@MotoGP)

Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales was sixth fastest, with the second of the factory Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo just a fraction behind in seventh. Lorenzo has had a tough day at MotorLand, with rear grip problems hindering him in FP1 and front-end issues holding him back this afternoon.

Hector Barbera was an impressive eighth on the Avintia Ducati, the Spaniard almost one tenth ahead of Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci. Andrea Dovizioso completed the top 10 on his factory Desmosedici GP16.

Aleix Espargaro joined his brother in the Turn 2 gravel trap with 25 minutes into the session, though was quick to his feet to get back to the box for his spare bike. The Suzuki rider returned to the circuit to go 11th fastest ahead of Aspar’s Yonny Hernandez, who’ll be left a little disappointed having gone sixth fastest at one stage of the session.

The Aprilia pairing of Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl continued their evaluation of some minor set-up tweaks to their RS-GPs, the duo taking the flag in a promising 13th and 14th respectively. Michele Pirro ended his first session of the weekend 15th, the Italian drafted in for the remainder of the Aragon Grand Prix after Andrea Iannone pulled out due to injury.

Scott Redding struggled with the warmer track temperature this afternoon and was 16th, with Eugene Laverty, Tito Rabat, Loris Baz, Alex Lowes and Nicky Hayden completing the field. Both Lowes and Laverty crashed at Turn 2 late in the session, both walking away unscathed.

![2016-09-23-4](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/2016-09-23-4-904x419.png)