Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has moved ahead in practice at Motegi, with the second 45-minute session for Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP having taken place on Friday afternoon. This relegated championship leader and morning pace-setter Casey Stoner to second position as Andrea Dovizioso confirmed a one-two-three for Honda.
Pedrosa’s leading lap time of 1:46.790 was already under the lap record at Motegi, with the Spaniard ahead of the Australian by just half a tenth. Best of the rest was another Honda, as Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli went fourth and ahead of the respective lead Yamaha and Ducati bikes of Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden.
Although conditions were overcast, rain stayed away as the top ten was completed by Hiroshi Aoyama, Valentino Rossi, Héctor Barberá and Colin Edwards.
With Coventry’s Cal Crutchlow 13th, the field was again rounded out by Honda test riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Shinichi Itoh plus rookie Damian Cudlin of Pramac, who is standing in for the injured Loris Capirossi.
Yamaha's Ben Spies managed only five laps as the exhausted American continues to fight illness; he ended the session in 14th spot and hopes to recover for Saturday.
- Post-practice feelings from pace-setter Dani Pedrosa
Saturday’s third and final Motegi practice starts at 10:10am local time (BST +8)
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  D. Pedrosa | Repsol Honda | 01:46.790 | 20 |
| 2. | C. Stoner | Repsol Honda | 01:46.844 | 15 |
| 3. | A. Dovizioso | Repsol Honda | 01:46.952 | 20 |
| 4. | M. Simoncelli | Gresini | 01:47.188 | 19 |
| 5. | J. Lorenzo | Fiat Yamaha | 01:47.310 | 18 |
| 6. | N. Hayden | Ducati | 01:47.381 | 20 |
| 7. | H. Aoyama | Gresini | 01:47.785 | 19 |
| 8. | V. Rossi | Ducati | 01:47.975 | 19 |
| 9. | H. Barbera | Aspar Team | 01:48.055 | 17 |
| 10. | C. Edwards | Tech 3 | 01:48.076 | 18 |
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| Dani Pedrosa | |||
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