Marc Marquez set the pace on the opening day of MotoGP free practice at Motorland Aragon. Image: MotoGP.com.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has rounded out the opening day on track at Motorland Aragon atop the MotoGP timesheets after taking over the position from early pacesetter, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.

The duo’s back and forth battle started in free practice one, with Lorenzo recording a last-gasp 1m49.753 lap to head off his rival by just 0.008 seconds in the closing stages.

Not to be outdone, Marquez extracted more speed from his Honda in the second session to end as the only rider into the 1m48s bracket, around 0.13 seconds ahead of LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl who worked his way up to second.

Dani Pedrosa registered the third-fastest time on the second factory Honda, with Lorenzo languishing in comparison to his earlier show of speed in fourth.

Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista was fifth from Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow (sixth) and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi (seventh).

The Ducati factory pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden were split by another impressive showing from CRT rider, Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro to round out the top 10.

Bryan Staring recorded the 22nd-fastest time on his GO&FUN Gresini CRT mount (1m53.557), while fellow Aussie Damian Cudlin rounded out the timesheets in his first showing with Paul Bird Motorsport on the team’s in-house PBM chassis.

ItalTrans Racing rider Takaaki Nakagami continued his run of strong form to record the top time in the Moto2 class after the second free practice session.

Nakagami’s 1m54.325 lap headed off Tuenti HP 40’s Esteve Rabat by 0.032 seconds, with Aspar Team’s Nico Terol 0.239s in arrears and rounding out the top three.

Points leader Scott Redding was a safe fifth in class, with his closest title rival Pol Esparagaro, teammate to Rabat, rounding out the top 10, some 0.9 seconds off the leader’s pace.

QMMF Racing Team rider, Aussie Ant West made a solid start to his weekend at Aragon with P21 on the timesheets.

Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins was on record pace as he topped the second and final Moto3 free practice of the day, with Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales running second and also within the previous best benchmark.

Points leader Luis Salom rounded out the top three for Red Bull KTM, with Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) and Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM) completing the top five, over one second off Rins’ pace.

Jack Miller finished the second session an uncharacteristic 15th on his Caretta Technology RTG Honda, with fellow Aussie Arthur Sissis placing his Red Bull KTM in 17th.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round 14 – Aragon, Spain

MotoGP free practice:
1. Marc MARQUEZ 1m48.987
2. Stefan BRADL +0.132
3. Dani PEDROSA +0.267
4. Jorge LORENZO +0.418
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA +0.776
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW +0.853
7. Valentino ROSSI +0.922
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO +1.047
9. Aleix ESPARGARO +1.068
10. Nicky HAYDEN +1.459
22. Bryan STARING (AUS) +4.570
24. Damian CUDLIN (AUS) +6.356

Moto2 free practice:
1. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 1m54.325
2. Esteve RABAT +0.032
3. Nicolas TEROL +0.239
4. Johann ZARCO 0.561
5. Scott REDDING +0.703
6. Thomas LUTHI +0.896
7. Julian SIMON +0.921
8. Marcel SCHROTTER +0.987
9. Simone CORSI +1.034
10. Alex DE ANGELIS +1.049
21. Anthony WEST (AUS) +2.107

Moto3 free practice:
1. Alex RINS 1m59.801
2. Maverick VIÑALES +0.160
3. Luis SALOM +0.428
4. Miguel OLIVEIRA +0.676
5. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN +1.123
6. Alex MARQUEZ +1.170
7. Philipp OETTL +1.180
8. Romano FENATI +1.278
9. Alexis MASBOU +1.421
10. Jonas FOLGER +1.501
15. Jack MILLER (AUS) +1.763
17. Arthur SISSIS (AUS) +1.854

Click here for detailed results