Motorcycle Racing

Marini leads Ducati 1-2-3 in second practice

Marini leads Ducati 1-2-3 in second practice


VR46 Ducati rider Marini was over a tenth clear of second-placed Jorge Martin (Pramac) in Friday’s second practice with a 1m30.217s. Jack Miller rounded out an all-Ducati top three, with Marc Marquez in fourth for Honda. 

A dramatic FP2 saw several crashes inside the first 10 minutes, with Franco Morbidelli first to go down in Sector 1 on his factory Yamaha before Gresini Ducati’s Fabio DiGiannantonio followed suit at Turn 2. 

Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro crashed at Turn 5, while Marquez also went down at Turn 1. 

Alex Rins was first to move to top of the timesheets on Suzuki’s last weekend in MotoGP, setting a 1m31.238s early on as Quartararo slotted into second with a 1m31.243s, 0.2s quicker than his FP1-topping time. 

Bagnaia’s quickest early attempt put him into 13th, a 1m31.661s the best he could muster, as he struggled to keep his factory Ducati on track and ran wide several times. 

Miller then went second-fastest behind Rins with a 1m31.204s, before he was demoted to third by Marini as Martin slotted into fifth with a 1m31.270s. 

RNF Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow was next to go down with a crash at Turn 2 before Marini again went quickest with a 1m31.110s. 

Bagnaia was able to improve to seventh late on in the session, with a 1m31.330s putting him less than 0.2s behind title rival Quartararo. 

The Yamaha man had a close moment with RNF’s Darryn Binder as the former moved up the inside at Turn 13, but the pair avoided contact. 

Bagnaia also had a moment late on, running wide at Turn 7. 

Martin went third-quickest on his 14th lap, setting a 1m31.195s, before the field pitted for fresh soft rear tyres with five minutes remaining. 

As the times tumbled, Miller was first to enter the 1m30s, with a 1m30.608s putting him quickest. 

But Marini recaptured the top spot several minutes later with a 1m30.217s, the quickest time of the day.  

Espargaro and KTM rider Miguel Oliveira both took second briefly, but it was Martin who ended the session second-fastest ahead of Miller and Marquez.  

Gresini Ducati rider Enea Bastianini was fifth-quickest, with Oliveira in sixth. 

Pramac’s Johann Zarco finished seventh ahead of Quartararo and Bagnaia, with Brad Binder rounding off the top 10 for KTM. 

FP2 results:

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