Jorge Martin topped the MotoGP timesheets for the second time on Friday and looks like the man to beat heading into this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone
A 1.57.911s laptime by Martin edged out his friend and Spanish compatriot Aleix Espargaro, who maintained his strong form from the opening practice earlier on Friday to finish second aboard his Aprilia, 0.045s adrift of the Pramac Ducati rider’s benchmark.
The factory Ducati duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini occupied third and fourth respectively, but for the latter, the session got underway in tricky circumstances with smoke pouring out the back of his GP24.
Just three and a half tenths of a second covered the top five, which was completed by KTM’s Jack Miller, who capped off a fine Friday after finishing fourth in the morning session.
Leading the charge on the year-old Ducati GP23 machinery was VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio, who occupied sixth place, with KTM’s Brad Binder and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales within a tenth of the Italian’s effort.
Di Giannantonio’s VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi cemented his spot into Q2 in the dying seconds after setting the ninth fastest time, with Gresini’s Marc Marquez narrowly avoiding a Q1 appearance in 10th.
Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli finished 0.731s from his pace-setting team-mate to wind up 11th in the order whilst Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez improved on his lowly opening practice result to take 12th place, with Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta, once again playing second fiddle to the factory KTM duo in 13th.
Alex Marquez and Gresini finished 14th but only a second adrift of the leaders, with Trackhouse’s Miguel Oliveira ending his session in 15th.
The backmarkers were comprised of the usual suspects, riders aboard Japanese machinery and the continually struggling Tech3 GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez.
Leading the stragglers was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in 16th, ahead of fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco aboard the LCR Honda.
Quartararo’s Yamaha team-mate Alex Rins went 18th fastest, ahead of Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini and Tech3’s Fernandez.
Joan Mir continued his struggles in 21st while Taakaki Nakagami lost the front of his LCR Honda into Copse in the early stages, which ruined his session.
The Japanese rider finished second-last and a second adrift of LCR team-mate Zarco.
Wildcard entrant Remy Gardner spent more time getting to grips with his Yamaha but still occupied the final spot on the timesheet.
