Jack Miller denied Takaaki Nakagami a Valencia Grand Prix practice sweep with a late flyer in FP2 to head the Japanese ace by just 0.091.
Having managed only the 11th best time in FP1 after dominating Friday running during the European GP event at the same Circuit Ricardo Tormo venue just seven days prior, Miller spent much of FP2 down on the benchmark times of his rivals.
The Aussie lagged behind Avintia Ducati rider Johann Zarco in the early goings as he seemed to consistently lose time in the final sector of the lap, his journey to the head of the timesheets becoming that bit steeper as Nakagami banged in a lap three tenths quicker than the Frenchman just past the mid-way point.
The LCR rider’s gambit looked set to net him the fastest time heading into Saturday, though a final push lap by Miller in the closing seconds of the session saw him relegate Nakagami to second by less than a tenth.
Francesco Bagnaia looked good to make it a Pramac Ducati 1-2 at the front of the field with his own final tour, but traffic towards the end of the lap scuppered his chances and left him third overall behind Nakagami.
Pol Espargaro put in another strong showing for KTM in fourth position, with Zarco eventually being shuffled back to fifth by the end.
Andrea Dovizioso backed up Ducati’s promising speed with sixth ahead of Cal Crutchlow on the second LCR machine, while Alex Rins was the highest classified Suzuki in eighth.
Aleix Espargaro looked to threaten for a leading time on his Aprilia RS-GP with a final do-or-die tour, though he would ultimately slip from a place within the top four to ninth as the final flurry of improvements played out in the dying moments, while Maverick Vinales rounded out the top ten as the fastest Yamaha representative just over four tenths down on Miller’s benchmark.
Series leader Joan Mir was only 11th after crashing at Turn 4 as the session entered its closing segment, the Spaniard tucking the front of his Suzuki on entry to the bend.
He was able to quickly rejoin the fray on his spare GSX-RR, but found himself unable to improve his earlier laptime and tumbled from the top ten.
Franco Morbidelli could only manage 13th having challenged for the top spot in FP1 on Friday morning, with team-mate and current runner-up in the points Fabio Quartararo a lowly 16th after also struggling in first practice.
Alex Marquez’s tricky start to the second Valencia encounter continued in FP2 as he crashed twice during the test, first of all at Turn 2 early on before losing the rear of his factory Honda RC213-V into Turn 4 in the latter stages.
He rejoined the circuit after both get-off’s, but could do no better than 19th in the final classification.
