Honda locked out the front row of the grid, with championship leader Marc Marquez and Alvaro Bautista putting Repsol Honda and Honda Gresnini second and third respectively. Marquez's second place time was only 0.017s behind Bradl.
Marquez led the way in the first practice session on Saturday, with 1:21.568 to lead Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha and Bradl, with Bautista and Britain's Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top five. The 20-year-old Spaniard is on an understandable high after romping to a second win of the season at the Sachsenring in Germany in the last race, in his MotoGP debut.
And he retained top spot through the second practice session of the day, clocking 1:21.680 to beat Bradl's 1:21.890. Crutchlow and Bautista finished third and fourth in that session, with Spain's Dani Pedrosa coming in fifth.
A word, though, about Pedrosa and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda and Yamaha riders were doubts for this race, with collarbone injuries at Germany. Following physiotherapy for Pedrosa and emergency surgery for Lorenzo, both riders were confirmed for the race pending medical evaluations, which happened trackside on Friday.
Pedrosa sat out the first and third practice sessions but produced blisteringly fast laps when critical and will start the race from seventh, with a best of 1:21.728.
Lorenzo, meanwhile, has kept a low profile through most of the weekend so far, with a best of 1:22.221 in practice and 1:21.453 in qualifying; he starts sixth, which should make the race very interesting indeed.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth and Tech 3 Yamaha's Bradley smith was ninth with Nicky Hayden 10th on his Ducati.
The 3.602km Laguna Seca circuit consist of 11 turns. The circuit record lap belongs to Pedrosa, who posted 1:21.229 last year. The 2012 race was won Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner, with Lorenzo second and Pedrosa third. This year's pole position man, Bradly, finished seventh.
Marquez leads the championship with 138 points. Pedrosa is two points behind and Lorenzo a further 11. Crutchlow and Rossi round out the top five, with 107 and 101 points respectively.
