Lorenzo lays down marker in second Valencia practice

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Jorge Lorenzo topped second practice ahead of the final MotoGP race of the season in Valencia as he attempts to snatch the world title from Valentino Rossi.

Rossi leads Movistar Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo by seven points in the championship standings but will start from the back of the grid on Sunday after his failed appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a penalty for “deliberately causing contact” with Marc Marquez at Sepang last month.

And Lorenzo appears primed for a push for pole position as he took first place in Friday’s second session with a time of one minute and 31.111 seconds.

Marquez’s Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa (1:31.377) was second ahead of Ducati’s Andrea Iannone (1:31.444) and Rossi (1:31.475).

Last season’s world champion Marquez (1:31.481) was fifth after topping the timesheets in first practice with a lap of 1:31.250.

Lorenzo was second in that session ahead of Pedrosa, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and Rossi.