Jack Miller took Friday honours at MotorLand Aragón thanks to a 1’47.613 lap after a dramatic end to the afternoon practice.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro continued his strong Silverstone form in second with Cal Crutchlow openly delighted in third at the start of his final Yamaha outing.
Miguel Oliveira set the initial pace as the afternoon action got going in Alcañiz. Fabio Quartararo sitting second from Jack Miller before the rapidly incoming flying laps began to register.
The opening shuffle found the Portuguese rider back in charge with a 1’48.623 from the Yamaha star. Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro and Alex Marquez following close behind before Miller demoted the second LCR machine.
Marc Marquez looked to be heading to the top of the standings before a turn 16 crash skittled him out of contention. His Repsol Honda destroyed in the aftermath of narrowly avoiding his younger brother on track with the Catalan openly furious.
Pecco Bagnaia was the first to capitalise as the Ducati sat P1, although his 1’48.616 pace was still half a second shy of Marquez’s morning best. Jorge Martin joined his fellow Desmosedici in the top three, with Brad Binder impressing once again on the KTM from sixth after 10 minutes on track.
Nakagami put his LCR Honda on the top of the pile with his seventh lap of the afternoon, just four-hundreds ahead of Bagnaia. The top five all circulating under the 1’49 marker with Alex Rins and Pol Espargaro achingly close in sixth and seventh.
Jake Dixon continued his MotoGP education in 21st, running 1.8s off the session benchmark but his 1’50.439 sat him just three-tenths behind his Petronas teammate, Valentino Rossi.
Marquez was back in action as the second half counted down, rising to fourth with his eighth lap on the spare bike - and featuring a new chassis. Bagnaia dropped to 10th as his rapid time was deleted, Binder suffering a similar fate down in 17th.
The Suzukis sat sixth and seventh with 13 minutes left to run, Cal Crutchlow advancing to 11th to head the Ducati train of Martin, Miller and Johann Zarco, with Iker Lecuona slotting into the mix in 14th.
The end of session lull saw the class pit for fresh tyres ahead of the final push for glory, the Marquez brothers hitting the empty track first on hard/medium and medium/soft combinations.
Espargaro was the first to strike on the Aprilia, his 1’48.547 being immediately beaten by Lecuona as the pair homed in on Marquez’ overall best before the Ducati’s arrived. Miller led Bagnaia and Martin into the top three with a 1’47.613 but Alex Marquez and Danilo Petrucci were also on a charge.
Espargaro improved once again, only to be outpaced by Crutchlow as the pair sat second and third, Quartararo joining the fun in fourth. An Impressive showing found Enea Bastianini in sixth as the Aprilia shaved even more from his 1’47 time. Martin and Bagnaia taking fourth and fifth as the flag began to fly.
The closing seconds saw Miller remain in charge from Espargaro and Crutchlow. Zarco striking with a characteristically late push for fourth to head his fellow Ducatis of Martin and Bagnaia. Quartararo sat seventh at the close of play - after suffering from what looked like an insect sting while out on track - from Nakagami, Bastianini and Pol Espargaro, with the Repsol man’s teammate dropping him out of the top 10 due to his morning time.
Disappointment found Joan Mir down in 21st as Friday drew to a close, neatly behind fellow big-hitters Rossi, Maverick Viñales and Marquez with Dixon a second back.
