Jorge Lorenzo started as he meant to continue by topping the Sunday
morning Warm-Up session ahead of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM. The
Yamaha Factory Racing rider led Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow
and Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, with pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa in
fifth position.
Lorenzo set the pace with 1’47.558, although this was four tenths of a
second slower than Pedrosa’s pole lap as the Warm-Up is chiefly about
dialling in race setups. Crutchlow was two tenths slower, with Marquez
inside the top three following three crashes on the first two days.
Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was fourth and expects greater pace in the race
than in qualifying yesterday.
Pedrosa was almost a second off Lorenzo, not focussing on setting the fastest time. Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone was sixth ahead of his first premier class Grand Prix at home in Italy, with the top ten being completed by Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet. Although de Puniet was tenth, the Frenchman crashed at Arrabbiata in the closing moments
There was a larger impact for Tech 3’s Bradley Smith; already in much pain because of an injured wrist and finger following a crash on Friday, he lost control this morning on the exit of Palagio corner and was then hit by his bike while in the gravel trap.
