Lorenzo quickest in morning warm-up in Motegi

In the morning warm-up for the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who set the fastest lap of the morning in front of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner.

Lorenzo was once again putting in consistently quick laps throughout the session, finishing with a best time of 1.45’888, whilst Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa left it late to post his best time, as him and his team tried to resolve their chatter issues. His teammate Stoner posted his best time of the weekend in third, and will be hoping that he can maintain his high pace throughout the race this afternoon without getting fatigued by his injury.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista was on the pace once more that he showed in qualifying yesterday, with LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl behind in fifth. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo of and Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, as well as Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi completed the top nine. Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet suffered another fall, which saw his bike set itself alight, and the Frenchman limp away – after hurting himself in a previous crash this weekend. As riders were seeking their limits, many bikes took excursions into the gravel, yet De Puniet was the only crasher.