Marc Marquez set a best time of 1:41.579 to lead the way in FP2. At more than two seconds faster than the quickest time this morning, track conditions continue to improve in Argentina. In second place was his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, just 0.094 off of his compatriot’s time.
Maverick Vinales continued to impress with the third fastest time, despite crashing his Suzuki midway through the session. Revelation of the weekend so far, however, is Australian Jack Miller who finished the session in fourth. Cal Crutchlow was in fifth, making it four Hondas in the top five.
Scott Redding was sixth on his Pramac Ducati, followed by Valentino Rossi on his Movistar Yamaha. Aleix Espargaro suffered two crashes in the session. Nevertheless, he finished the session in eighth, his Suzuki within a second of Marquez’s fastest time.
Bradley Smith ended the session in ninth on his Tech 3 Yamaha, with Andrea Dovizioso rounding out the top 10 after being fastest in this morning’s session. Hector Barbera was 11th on his Avintia Ducati, with Eugene Laverty putting in a late charge to finish 12th on his Aspar Ducati having spent most of the session 20th and last.
Pol Espargaro was 13th on the Tech 3 Yamaha after suffering his second crash of the weekend. Lorenzo’s bad weekend continues, finishing the session in 14th. Remonstrating with his team in the pits, he is clearly not comfortable with the front end of his Movistar Yamaha. Andrea Iannone is also struggling with his Ducati in 15th.
The session’s times may be crucial to qualifying. Weather forecasts are predicting a washout on Saturday, so the times set in the session may well decide the top 10 straight through to Q2.
