Honda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa tops Motegi second practice – MotoGP

Honda rider Dani Pedrosa set the pace in second practice for MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix on a damp-but-drying Motegi track.

Rain following the conclusion of a dry Friday morning session at Motegi meant just a handful of riders ventured out of the pits in the opening stages, and with 15 minutes left to run less than half the field had set lap times.

Tech3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco topped the timesheets at that stage with a 1m54.477 seconds lap, and the Frenchman had improved to a 1m53.728s when Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller became the first rider to leave the pits on slicks.

After setting a first flying lap three seconds off the pace, the Australian then leapt to the head of the order with a 1m52.863s tour, and began to carve chunks out of his own benchmark over the following laps.

The Australian had worked his way down to a 1m49.022s when he was ousted from the top of the times by Pramac team-mate Danilo Petrucci at the very end of the session.

Petrucci’s lead was short-lived as his 1m48.939s was eclipsed by both Pedrosa’s 1m48.136s and Aprilia man Scott Redding’s 1m48.635s.

Miller ended up fourth ahead of Zarco, who ended the session as the top Yamaha rider after switching to slicks.

Completing the top 10 in a mixed-up order were Zarco’s Tech3 team-mate Hafizh Syahrin, Bradley Smith (KTM), Xavier Simeon (Avintia Ducati), Thomas Luthi (Marc VDS Honda) and Suzuki wildcard Sylvain Guintoli.

Both the factory Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales opted to stay on wets even after it became clear slicks were the tyre of choice, and ended up 14th and 15th respectively of the 18 riders who set times.

The top two in the points, Marc Marquez (Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), were among seven riders who didn’t set a lap time all session, along with LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow.

FP2 times