Ahead of his much anticipated switch to
MotoGP machinery on Monday, Marc Marquez got his final Moto2 World Championship meeting at Valencia underway as he means to go on by topping FP2, though a controversial clash with Simone Corsi could yet land the youngster in hot water.
Already crowned champion coming into the final round at Valencia, Marquez snatched the top spot with his final flying lap of 1min 36.090secs, but it was his altercation with Corsi minutes before that has once again overshadowed his outright pace.
Coming up to Corsi on a fast lap, Marquez dived for a small gap inside of the Italian into turn four, the pair subsequently making contact - with Corti sent barrelling into the gravel trap, while Marquez was able to continue.
Reminiscent of the practice collision between Marquez and
Mika Kallio at Motegi, for which no action was taken, it remains to be seen if Marquez will face repercussions for the latest incident.
The 2013 Repsol Honda
MotoGP rider headed straight down to Corsi's Ioda pit to try and apologise after the session, although the Italian had already left.
Behind Marquez, Pol Espargaro made it a Spanish 1-2 in second position, ahead of Marc VDS Kalex man Scott Redding and another rider MotoGP-bound for 2013, Andrea Iannone.
'Rookie of the Year' Johann Zarco shrugged off his second crash of the day to set the fifth fastest time, ahead of Thomas Luthi and Nico Terol, the Spaniard showing well at the circuit where he was crowned 125GP champion in 2012.
Julian Simon made it four Spaniards inside the top ten with eighth, ahead of Dominique Aegerter – a maiden Moto2 podium winner at Valencia last season – and Kallio.
Gresini's Gino Rea was 19th quickest, while Bradley Smith was 22nd fastest on the Tech 3 bike.
1.
Marc Marquez SPA (Suter)
1m 36.090s 2.
Pol Espargaro SPA (Kalex)
1m 36.127s 3.
Scott Redding GBR (Kalex)
1m 36.348s 4.
Andrea Iannone ITA (Speed Up)
1m 36.474s 5.
Johann Zarco FRA (MotoBI)
1m 36.701s 6.
Thomas Luthi SWI (Suter)
1m 36.878s 7.
Nicolas Terol SPA (Suter)
1m 36.879s 8.
Julian Simon SPA (Suter)
1m 36.888s 9.
Dominique Aegerter SWI (Suter)
1m 36.907s 10.
Mika Kallio FIN (Kalex)
1m 36.932s 11.
Randy Krummenacher SWI (Kalex)
1m 37.166s 12.
Jordi Torres SPA (Suter)
1m 37.182s 13.
Esteve Rabat SPA (Kalex)
1m 37.295s 14.
Xavier Simeon BEL (Tech 3)
1m 37.319s 15.
Takaaki Nakagami JPN (Kalex)
1m 37.496s 16.
Toni Elias SPA (Kalex)
1m 37.529s 17.
Ricard Cardus SPA (AJR)
1m 37.571s 18.
Yuki Takahashi JPN (FTR)
1m 37.579s 19.
Gino Rea GBR (Suter)
1m 37.789s 20.
Mike Di Meglio FRA (Kalex)
1m 37.867s 21.
Ratthapark Wilairot THA (Suter)
1m 37.871s 22.
Bradley Smith GBR (Tech 3)
1m 37.978s 23.
Marcel Schrotter GER (Bimota)
1m 38.046s 24.
Axel Pons SPA (Kalex)
1m 38.228s 25.
Tomoyoshi Koyama JPN (Suter)
1m 38.232s 26.
Simone Corsi ITA (FTR)
1m 38.327s 27.
Roman Ramos SPA (FTR)
1m 38.399s 28.
Dani Rivas SPA (Kalex)
1m 39.232s 29.
Mattia Pasini ITA (FTR)
1m 39.278s 30.
Alessandro Andreozzi ITA (Speed Up)
1m 39.781s 31.
Rafid Topan Sucipto INA (Speed Up)
1m 39.879s 32.
Elena Rosell SPA (Speed Up)
1m 39.985s 33.
Eric Granado BRA (MotoBI)
1m 40.708s