Marc Marquez fought back to lead FP2 for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the Spaniard posting the fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:23.916.
The Honda man was one of only two riders to post a time under the 1:24 mark, with Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales the second just 0.066 behind as the session came to a close.
Marquez struck early as he banged in a 1:24.122- just under a tenth quicker than his best FP1 time- to leap to the head of the times, before improving to his session-leading time of 1:23.916 not long afterwards.
Vinales looked threatening as he attempted his final set of laps on new tyres, but came just short and settled for second fastest ahead of the impressive Takaaki Nakagami, who backed up his strong FP1 showing with third in this session.
Fabio Quartararo took fourth on his Petronas SRT M1 Yamaha, while Jack Miller once again made his Pramac-run Ducati GP19 a fixture in the top five.
Miguel Oliveria set a stunning time just 0.410 slower than Marquez’s benchmark to take the sixth fastest time for the Tech 3 KTM squad, ahead of both factory Ducati machines.
Danilo Petrucci was seventh on his GP19, while FP1 pace-setter Andrea Dovizioso had to make do with ninth after crashing while out on his final new-tyre run. The Italian tucked the front of his Desmosedici into Turn 3, returning to the pits as he was unable to get the bike restarted.
Cal Crutchlow separated the two Ducati’s in eighth on his LCR Honda, while Pol Espargaro once again made sure that two KTM RC16’s made a top ten appearance as he completed the top ten runners.
Neither Valentino Rossi nor Alex Rins were able to insert their Yamaha or Suzuki bikes into the top ten this time around, the pair having to settle for 11th and 12th respectively, while Johann Zarco fell to 17th in this session after managing the eighth fastest tour in FP1.
Tech 3’s Hafizh Syahrin made it out following his fearsome FP1 crash that saw him high-side at the fast Turn 9. The Malaysian was 21st on the leaderboard, lapping 1.353 off the pace.
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