MotoGP Brno Friday practice: Lorenzo quickest in crashfest

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo topped the timesheets for MotoGP practice on Friday at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic, taking advantage of the cooler conditions in the morning practice to run his quickest lap that was less than half a second off the circuit's race lap record. Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez was just 0.014 seconds behind Lorenzo, with Marquez turning his quick lap in the afternoon when ambient temperatures soared to 93° F/34° C and track temperatures were a scorching 122° F/50° C (before you dismiss Lorenzo's lap time, it should be noted that he was only 0.076 seconds behind Marquez in the FP2 afternoon practice). Marquez actually suffered two crashes on Friday, with the reigning world champion nearly saving one crash with his elbow similar to the instance in testing back in 2014 where he miraculously did save a near-crash.

Marquez wasn't the only one to crash during Friday practice, however; both Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa crashed when one of the fork seals on Pedrosa's Honda RC213V reportedly blew, spewing oil on his tire and the track, causing Rossi to lose the front end and crash first, and then Pedrosa several turns later. Other fallers included Monster Tech 3 Yamaha's Bradley Smith, Avintia Racing Ducati's Mike Di Meglio, and Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.

MotoGP Brno Friday practice results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:56.499
2. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1:56.513
3. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Ducati Team 1:56.750
4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1:56.784
5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1:56.821
6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:57.038
7. Pol Espargaró (SPA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:57.078
8. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:57.137
9. Aleix Espargaró (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 1:57.202
10. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) CWM LCR Honda 1:57.229
11. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1:57.544
12. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1:57.575
13. Maverick Viñales (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 1:57.607
14. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing Ducati 1:57.718
15. Scott Redding (GBR) Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1:57.860
16. Stefan Bradl (GER) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:58.484
17. Jack Miller (AUS) CWM LCR Honda 1:58.512
18. Nicky Hayden (USA) Aspar Honda Team 1:58.549
19. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing Ducati 1:58.589
20. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aspar Honda Team 1:58.656
21. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:58.669
22. Loris Baz (FRA) Athinà Forward Racing Yamaha 1:58.678
23. Alex De Angelis (RSM) E-Motion Ioda Racing Aprilia 1:59.680
24. Claudio Corti (ITA) Athinà Forward Racing Yamaha 2:00.074
25. Karel Abraham (CZE) AB Motoracing Honda 2:01.261