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Lewis Duncan

Thailand MotoGP: Zarco leads Ducati 1-2-3-4 in second practice

Despite heavy rain lashing down for the start of Moto3 FP2, conditions had cleared by the time the second 45-minute MotoGP session got underway at Buriram.

Zarco would set the initial pace in FP2 with a 1m31.466s, and would improve come the end in a late time attack by 1.2s to a 1m30.281s.

That earlier rain appeared to have had an impact on grip levels for FP2, as only five riders inside the top 10 on the combined order finding lap time gains from their FP1 best efforts.

It wouldn’t be until the final six minutes that Marc Marquez’s 1m30.523s from FP1 was finally deposed by the Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin.

The Spaniard’s stint at the top of the timesheets was short-lived, as Bagnaia eased ahead with a 1m30.299s.

Crashes for the RNF duo of Darryn Binder and Cal Crutchlow within the space of a few minutes brought out yellow flags late on, which compromised several riders’ flying laps.

Zarco just about dodged the yellow flag disruption on his lap to produce the 1m30.281s that would see him end Friday fastest of all.

He only topped Bagnaia by just 0.018s, with Martin completing the top three ahead of VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini.

Marini caught the ire of championship leader Fabio Quartararo at the start of the session on Friday afternoon.

The Yamaha rider ran wide on his first lap coming out of Turn 4 and was visibly frustrated at Marini for holding off passing him, with the Italian proceeding to shadow Quartararo for the next few tours before the pair swapped positions.

Marini headed Miguel Oliveira on the KTM at the end of FP2, with Marc Marquez sixth from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro – who remains 13th on the combined order and at risk of dropping into Q1 in qualifying should rain affect FP3 on Saturday morning.

Quartararo was eighth after his early dramas with Marini, while Enea Bastianini – who is also outside of the top 10 on the combined order – and the second VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed early on at Turn 3, completed the top 10 on the individual time sheet.

Maverick Vinales struggled with a lack of rear grip in 11th on his Aprilia ahead of the Suzuki of Alex Rins and KTM’s Brad Binder, while Motegi winner Jack Miller was down in 18th on his factory Ducati.

Darryn Binder was 19th after his spill, with Crutchlow – who also had a crash at Turn 3 – 21st on the second RNF Yamaha.

Joan Mir’s Suzuki replacement Danilo Petrucci completed the 24-rider field in FP2, 2.6s off the pace as he continues to adapt to the GSX-RR.

Thailand MotoGP - FP2 results:

Cla   Nº   Rider   Bike   Time  Gap
Johann Zarco Ducati 1'30.281  
63  Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1'30.299 0.018
89  Jorge Martín Ducati 1'30.471 0.190
10  Luca Marini Ducati 1'30.594 0.313
88  Miguel Oliveira KTM 1'30.608 0.327
93  Marc Márquez Honda 1'30.714 0.433
41  Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 1'30.892 0.611
20  Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'30.961 0.680
23  Enea Bastianini Ducati 1'30.963 0.682
10  72  Marco Bezzecchi Ducati 1'30.964 0.683
11  12  Maverick Viñales Aprilia 1'30.996 0.715
12  42  Alex Rins Suzuki 1'31.088 0.807
13  33  Brad Binder KTM 1'31.102 0.821
14  73  Álex Márquez Honda 1'31.113 0.832
15  49  Fabio Di Giannantonio Ducati 1'31.155 0.874
16  21  Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1'31.177 0.896
17  44  Pol Espargaró Honda 1'31.308 1.027
18  43  Jack Miller Ducati 1'31.330 1.049
19  40  Darryn Binder Yamaha 1'31.367 1.086
20  25  Raúl Fernández KTM 1'31.390 1.109
21  35  Cal Crutchlow Yamaha 1'31.651 1.370
22  45  Tetsuta Nagashima Honda 1'31.927 1.646
23  87  Remy Gardner KTM 1'31.966 1.685
24  Danilo Petrucci Suzuki 1'32.890 2.609
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