---
title: "Espargaro leads Marquez in Phillip Island FP2"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/10/20/espargaro-leads-marquez-phillip-island-fp2/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2017-10-20T05:07:36Z"
modified: "2017-10-20T05:08:05Z"
---

# Espargaro leads Marquez in Phillip Island FP2

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was the surprise pacesetter at the end of Friday in MotoGP at Phillip Island ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez.

Marquez did not run the softer tyre in the first session, so headed out on track at the start of second practice with it and immediately went top with a 1m29.810s.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/830280698.jpg)

The Honda rider’s benchmark stood for five minutes before Espargaro guided his Aprilia to a 1m29.225s.

Espargaro remained top of the pile as the session entered its final quarter, though did come under some pressure from Marquez with a 1m29.307s in second spot.

Espargaro was unable to improve on his benchmark pace, but remained top of the timesheets as the chequered flag brought the second session to an end.

Marquez, who went on the harder front tyre on his final run, was just 0.005 seconds outside of the Aprilia’s rider’s time, while championship rival Andrea Dovizioso – who made a mistake on his best effort this morning – completed the top three on the Ducati.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/851609540.jpg)

2016 Phillip Island race winner Cal Crutchlow was fourth fastest ahead of Maverick Vinales, who recovered from a crash at Turn 8 halfway through the session to get to within two tenths of Espargaro‘s time.

Home hero Jack Miller is still in some discomfort as he continues to recover from a broken right leg sustained prior to the Aragon round.

The Australian showed no signs of suffering, however, as he put his Marc VDS Honda sixth in second practice ahead of Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco, who was slowed in the early stages by a technical issues.

Dani Pedrosa flew under the radar for much of Friday’s running, and was ninth fastest this afternoon. KTM’s Pol Espargaro was 10th fastest and made sure all six manufacturers were represented inside the top 10.

With weather forecasts predicting rain on Saturday, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi could well face the first qualifying session just as they did one year ago after ending second practice off the pace in 11th and 12th, respectively.

Alvaro Bautista suffered another fall this afternoon, though this time at a much more sedate pace at the Honda hairpin. Tito Rabat and Tech3 Yamaha replacement Broc Parkes also crashed in second practice.

![](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/10/2017-10-20-1-1.png)