Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez topped the second MotoGP free practice timesheet at Motorland Aragon and led an HRC whitewash of the lead three places with team-mate Dani Pedrosa and the LCR RC213V of Stefan Bradl behind him.
The world championship leader was under Casey Stoner's race lap record with his 1'48.987 and only half a second off the Australian's outright lap record set in 2011. He was also the only rider in the 1'48s bracket with Pedrosa a tenth behind and Bradl ending on a 1'49.254 on his 15th lap of 18.
The expected challenge from reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo never came and the Factory Yamaha man stamped straight through his garage after session two was over, not stopping to talk to crew chief Ramon Forcada.
Lorenzo was some four-tenths off the pace of Marquez and didn't put in any of his usual metronomic runs, managing just six laps in the 1'49s bracket and pitting three times. Uncharacteristically for Lorenzo, he did three sets of short runs and clearly isn't happy with his YZR-M1 this afternoon.
Marquez did seven in the 1'49s but also bolted on his 1'48 on top while Pedrosa did eight in a total of 19 laps. Bradl's pace is slightly slower, but he also managed four 1'49s.
Alvaro Bautista set the fifth fastest time before crashing unhurt on the entry into turn eight. The Spanish Gresini Honda man is eight-tenths off the pace but just ahead of Britain's Cal Crutchlow, who managed just one 1'49s lap, his fastest of the session on a 1'49.840.
Valentino Rossi, who was so upbeat following the Misano test, will be disappointed with his performance, ending the day in seventh and nearly a second slower than Marquez with two laps in the 1'49s despite a six-lap run at the end of the session.
Andrea Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaro and Nicky Hayden round out the top ten with Bradley Smith behind Hector Barbera in 13th place. Michael Laverty closed his gap to the leaders with a best of 1'53.220, four-tenths faster than he went this morning on the unfamilar ART bike on a track he has little experience of.
