Marc Marquez leads second practice at Germany MotoGP
Marc Marquez topped Practice at the German Grand Prix on Friday afternoon
Ducati’s Marc Marquez led the field at the end of Practice by 0.166s from Trackhouse Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez, as Pecco Bagnaia missed Q2 for the fourth time this season.
Labelled the favourite coming into the Sachsenring weekend, nine-time German Grand Prix winner Marc Marquez was second-fastest in FP1 after an early crash.
Though top spot changed hands a number of times in the closing stages of Practice on Friday afternoon, Marquez emerged as the best of the field with a 1m19.394s.
That put him 0.166s clear of Raul Fernandez on the leading Aprilia, while Fabio Di Giannantonio held onto third on his VR46 Ducati.
Championship leader Jorge Martin was only eighth behind Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, with both crucially making it through to Q2.
But the big loser at the end of the session was Pecco Bagnaia, who failed to secure a Q2 spot on his factory Ducati in 13th.
Bezzecchi led the way after the opening 10 minutes, having posted a 1m20.605s.
That stood as the benchmark for a while, until the Aprilia star fitted a fresh soft rear tyre to produce a 1m20.535s with just over half an hour to go.
Di Giannantonio would take over from Bezzecchi on his VR46 Ducati with a 1m20.104s around 10 minutes later, before Marquez produced a 1m19.841s.
This was matched seconds later by Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller, which lifted him as high as second.
Di Giannantonio challenged Marquez’s lap with a 1m19.674s, but it would ultimately be only good enough for third.
Marquez’s 1m19.394s came with around three minutes of the session remaining, with a late yellow flag for an Enea Bastianini crash halting others from progressing.
Alex Marquez was fourth on his Gresini Ducati, with Miller easing into Q2 in fifth ahead of Assen race winner Ai Ogura on the Trackhouse Aprilia.
Pedro Acosta was the only KTM rider inside the top 10 in ninth, while VR46’s Franco Morbidelli completed the top 10.
However, he could be facing another penalty for impeding, after he forced Acosta to back out of a lap due to riding slower on the racing line through Turn 6.
Bastianini’s late crash consigned him to 11th, with Brad Binder 12th ahead of Bagnaia.
