MotoGPs free practice at Estoril was a waiting session for the majority of the riders who sat out the first half hour hoping for better track conditions which still had several damp patches and puddles in the final turn.
At the start of the session only MotoGP rider Ben Spies was out on track followed by CRT riders Michele Pirro, Yonny Hernandez, Danilo Petrucci and Ivan Silva.
The Yamaha rider posted the best lap times in the 45 minutes and bettered himself in the last minute with a 1’40″813 lap, finishing ahead of Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi.
Nicky Hayden was a little less than three tenths from Spies who put in 17 laps, while Valentino Rossi using Hayden’s settings was six tenths off pace, pushing back Casey Stoner to fourth who only did five laps on his Honda and was more than a second adrift.
Stoner was followed by Alvaro Bautista and the Yamaha Tech3 duo, with Cal Crutchlow faster than his team mate Andrea Dovizioso.
Dani Pedrosa was 8th followed by a surprising Yonny Hernandez in 9th with Karel Abraham closing out the top ten.
Points leader Jorge Lorenzo – celebrating his 25th birthday today – and Hector Barbera (Pramac) decided to sit out the session and didn’t post any recorded laps.
MotoGP Estoril FP1 results:01- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’40.
81302- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 0.
27303- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 0.
68904- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 1.
13005- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 1.
41706- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
47807- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
53008- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 2.
26509- Yonny Hernandez – Avintia Blusens – FTR Kawasaki – + 2.
44310- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 2.
45211- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 2.
46412- Michele Pirro – San Carlo Honda Gresini – FTR Honda – + 2.
69813- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 2.
71414- Colin Edwards – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Suter BMW – + 4.
09615- Danilo Petrucci – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda TR003 – + 4.
33516- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 4.
82317- Mattia Pasini – Speed Master Team – ART GP12 – + 5.
19118- Ivan Silva – Avintia Blusens – FTR Kawasaki – + 5.
45819- James Ellison – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP12 – + 11.
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