MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix: Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro stuns title favourites by topping practice

SUZUKI’S Aleix Espargaro stunned MotoGP world title favourites Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Catalunya.

Team Suzuki Ecstar Spanish Aleix Espargaro rides during the second free practice sessions at the MotoGP at the Barcelona-Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, on June 12, 2015 ahead of the Catalunya Moto Grand Pix. AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO

SUZUKI’S Aleix Espargaro stunned MotoGP world title favourites Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in Friday’s practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Catalunya.

Espargaro clocked 1min 41.158sec with two-time defending world champion Marc Marquez in second spot and fellow Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in third.

World championship leader Rossi was only 11th fastest while Lorenzo, who has won the past three races, was in seventh.

But Rossi, who triumphed at the Montmelo circuit in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2009, was not too concerned, opting to concentrate on set-up ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.

“It wasn’t a bad start. At the end of the practice we found a better setting and balance of the bike and I didn’t feel so bad,” said the Yamaha veteran who has a six-point lead in the title race. “The reality is that everybody rode incredible lap times and pushed very hard. I feel good with the bike and the pace is not so bad.”

Originally published as MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix: Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro stuns title favourites by topping practice