Forward NGM’s Aleix Espargaro again launched himself to the front of the MotoGP pack in this afternoon’s second free practice session, putting the Open class soft tyre to good use on his last run to demote Marc Marquez with his last lap.
The Spaniard, who was quickest this morning in similar circumstances, banged in a 1’22.041 to best Marquez by a little over a tenth with Jorge Lorenzo in third place a further two-tenths in arrears.
Howver, the shock of the session came with ten minutes left to run as PBM Aprilia’s Michael Laverty shot into tenth place with a 1’22.928s lap. He eventually slipped back down the order to 14th after a subsequent crash but is still only three-quarters of a second down on Espargaro, two-tenths slower than Cal Crutchlow on the factory Ducati and quicker than Scott Redding by 0.005s.
Marquez has recovered from his monster crash in the first session and put in 20 laps this afternoon, setting his quickest on the sixth but it was gravel-trap time for team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who lost the front on a bump into the fast left after the Waterfall. The Spaniard finished in ninth place and half a second off the lead.
Hometown hero Stefan Bradl ended in fourth place after a scrap with Alvaro Bautista who had Andrea Iannone, again the fastest of the Ducatis, and Pol Espargaro behind him. Works Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso was eighth on a 1’22.576 and two-tenths quicker than team-mate Crutchlow.
Valentino Rossi did not improve on his time from this morning and spent a majority of the session on the hardest option rear so will have been looking at options for the race on Sunday as he completed 21 laps.
Bradley Smith, who crashed twice this morning, ended in 11th place with Yonny Hernandez just behind him. An attempted tow behind Pedrosa ended with the Spaniard jamming his brakes on halfway through the lap in anger and Hernandez had to take evasive action.
