The MotoGP class set off on the newly resurfaced Indianapolis circuit under sunny skies and high temperatures on Friday as the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix got underway.
It was 27 year-old Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies who led for the majority of the afternoon practice session and his best time of 1'40.918 was an improvement of over two seconds from his earlier FP1 time, as the entire category improved significantly on their morning session efforts as grip levels stepped up.
Spies' time was not enough to stay in front of Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner however, whose time of 1'40.724 was fastest of the day and placed him top of the timesheet.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who won last year's Indianapolis GP, followed Spies in third with a time of 1'41.205. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) also moved up significantly in the second practice outing, bettering his time by over three seconds to slot into fourth position.
Andrea Dovizioso was fifth quickest in FP2 with a best time of 1'41.536, 0.163s ahead of Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in sixth. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) finished in seventh with a best time of 1'41.742, followed by Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in eighth aboard the fastest Ducati, Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) ninth and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) tenth.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) improved on his FP1 time by just under two seconds but it was not enough to keep him within the top ten times, moving the Italian into eleventh for the day.
Ioda Racing Project rider Simone Corsi leapt to the top of the timings from 23rd place in the final five minutes of the second Moto2 outing with a lap of 1'46.274. Like the MotoGP riders who went out before them the Moto2 class improved on their morning times considerably, and Corsi's effort came despite a crash earlier in the session from which he recovered admirably.
Marc Marquez recovered from a crash he had at the end of FP1 to finish 0.065s behind Corsi, putting the Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider in second for the day, while Ioda Racing Project team mate Mattia Pasini posted the third quickest time, a 1'46.448.
Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) gradually made his way to the front, posting a time of 1'46.453 to rank him fourth in the session, after a slow start of the day saw him finish the first practice outing in 16th. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing), who had topped the morning session, finished fifth with a time of 1'46.574. The British rider was followed by Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar), who made big strides in his lap times, with fellow Spaniard Ricky Cardus (QMMF Racing Team) seventh. Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP 40), Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) and Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) completed the top ten.
American wildcard Jake Gagne (GPTech) made an impressive showing, posting the 26th fastest time. Kenan Sofuoglu of the Technomag-CIP team did not participate in the afternoon session after a fall in FP1 resulted in a foot injury.
Last year's Indianapolis 125cc race winner Nico Terol set the fastest lap of the day after pushing hard and running off into the grass earlier in the afternoon session. The Spaniard's best time of 1'49.381 was 0.774s faster than Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) in second.
Zarco, who had stepped into the lead in the final five minutes, bettered his earlier time on his last lap by 1.818s with a time of 1'50.155. The French rider just edged ahead of Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucia Banca Civica) by a thousandth of a second to put the Spaniard, whose first World Championship podium was achieved at the last round in Brno, third in the times.
Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) posted the fourth quickest time of the day with a 1'50.318, followed by the fourth Spanish rider in the top five Efren Vazquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), who had led the beginning of the outing to finally post a best lap of 1'50.578.
Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) was sixth, followed by Hector Faubel (Bankia Aspar), Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) upon his return to action, rookie Maverick Vinales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) and Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), who had a crash on the last lap, to complete the top ten.