MotoGP – Motegi FP2 – Great performance by Pedrosa, Stoner is 5th and Rossi 14th

Dani Pedrosa set the best time in the second free practice session of the Japanese GP which will take place on Sunday on the Twin Ring track in Motegi. The Spanish rider from Team Honda Repsol (who was also the fastest in FP1) stopped the clock at a time of 1'47"865, demonstrating that he has an excellent feeling with the track and with his Honda RC212V on Michelin tyres. Behind the Sabadel rider we find seven riders on Bridgestone tyres, in order Randy de Puniet with the Kawasaki (1'48"254), Marco Melandri with the Team Gresini Honda (1'48"351), John Hopkins with the Suzuki (1'48"361) Casey Stoner with the Ducati (1'48"444), Akiyoshi, wild card Suzuki (1'48"457), Loris Capirossi with the Ducati (1'48"499) and Anthony West with the Kawasaki (1'48″529). To find another rider on Michelin tires (besides Pedrosa) we have to go down to ninth position where we find the other Honda of Team Repsol, that of reigning champion Nicky Hayden, 687 thousandths behind Pedrosa.

Great performance from Pedrosa therefore, all the Bridgestone tires performed well even if Stoner still has some set-up problems, especially at the rear of his GP7 which more than once "escaped" from the young Australian driver who will only have to finish ahead of Rossi in race to become world champion. Speaking of Rossi, we must say that the rider from Pesaro is only fourteenth, almost a second behind Pedrosa; the Yamaha rider also broke the engine of his M1 with 22 minutes to go until the end of practice. A start that is anything but positive for Rossi who, to keep the world championship open, must finish ahead of Stoner and above all must aim to win all the remaining races.

Makoto Tamada (10th), his teammate Colin Edwards (11th), the Japanese Shinya Nakano (12th) and the Spaniard Carlos Checa (13th) classified before Rossi. Fifteenth time for the Spaniard Toni Elias, sixteenth for the French Guintoli, seventeenth for Alex Barros, eighteenth for Chris Vermeulen, nineteenth for the wild card of Kawasaki Yanagawa, twentieth for Alex Hofmann's replacement, Shinichi ito and last position for the KR of Kurtis Roberts.