Marc Marquez tamed the monsoon-like conditions at the Mobility Resort Motegi to lead the way at the end of FP2, while the title contenders struggled to post leading efforts.
The track surface was riddled with small rivers and standing water at the start of the 45-minute test, the challenging conditions catching several riders out early on – especially at Turn 3 which saw the likes of Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro and Francesco Bagnaia all run out wide.
The times began to tumble though as the session progressed and the pilots began to find their feet in the slippery conditions, with times beginning to head into the 1:56s margin having began well into the 1:58s.
KTM’s Miguel Oliveira – who won the only wet race of the year so far in Indonesia – led the way on a 1:56.313s at around mid-way, though the Portuguese ended up being usurped shortly after by a flying Marc Marquez, the six-time premier class champion firing in a 1:55.232s to put himself well clear at the top.
His gambit would prove unbeatable across the remainder of the test after a late red flag – caused by the other Honda of Pol Espargaro high-siding at Turn 6 and leaving dirt on the track – prevented further improvement in the final ten minutes, with Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin getting closest to toppling the Honda rider as he lapped 0.144s adrift.
Jack Miller ended FP2 in third overall on his factory Ducati ahead of Oliveira, while the sister Pramac entry of Johann Zarco completed the top five.
Franco Morbidelli was sixth for Yamaha ahead of Gresini’s Enea Bastianini, with the LCR Honda of Alex Marquez showing well in eighth.
Luca Marini was ninth on his VR46-run Desmosedici, while series leader Quartararo ended up tenth having looked strong in the opening stages of the session.
The Frenchman’s main title competition in Bagnaia and Espargaro both looked to be badly struggling in the early phases of the outing as they barely cracked the top 20, though the pair would find some confidence after the red flag was lifted – the former moving up to 15th in the final reckoning while the latter would take 11th just behind Quartararo.
Home hero Takaaki Nakagami wound up 17th having been passed fit to ride on Saturday having struggled with the hand injury he sustained at Aragon throughout FP1, while countryman and Honda wildcard Tetsuta Nagashima ended up 22nd having crashed right at the conclusion of the session.
