Espargaro continues to lead as pace drops in FP2

Aleix Espargaro continued to be fastest in Qatar as the pace dropped in free practice 2, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Alvaro Bautista.

Espargaro was the first man to lap under a 1’55, managing to post a 1’54.989 which was 0.2s better than he managed last night in FP1 and was 0.3s faster than second place man Dovizoso.

Dovi was the big mover in the first session of the Friday test, as he lapped nearly two seconds faster than his Friday time as he put the soft Bridgestone tyre his GP14. Bautista was third as he continued his good form in Qatar, although he ended the test just under half a second behind Espargaro.

Behind the front three was the Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez who were fourth and fifth respectively. Marquez contined to work his way back from his broken leg, and was fastest today with the aid of painkillers, whilst Pedrosa looked less than happy at the end of the session being half a second behind Espargaro.

Bradley Smith continued to work looking impressive on his Tech 3 Yamaha, and he was just ahead of Stefan Bradl who was seventh. Pol Espargaro ended the session in eighth after an early crash.

Valentino Rossi the first of the Factory Yamaha’s and he was a second off the pace in ninth, as he continues to struggle along with his team mate with the new M1. Andrea Iannone was the second Ducati on his Pramac machine, and he rounded out the top ten. Jorge Lorenzo’s miserable start to the season continued as he ended the session with the prospect of having to take part in Q1 looming over him as he was 11th, +1.183s behind Espargaro.