Ducati to the front in FP2
Jorge Lorenzo came out on top of a time attack contest in the closing stages of Friday's Free Practice 2 session for the German MotoGP.
Lorenzo, eighth in the morning session, took a brand new set of soft tyres (front and rear) to the only sub-1min 21s lap of the day to finish 0.257s ahead of fellow Ducati GP18 rider Danilo Petrucci (Pramac).
Jorge Lorenzo came out on top of a time attack contest in the closing stages of Friday's Free Practice 2 session for the German MotoGP.
Lorenzo, eighth in the morning session, took a brand new set of soft tyres (front and rear) to the only sub-1min 21s lap of the day to finish 0.257s ahead of fellow Ducati GP18 rider Danilo Petrucci (Pramac).
Petrucci opted for new medium-soft tyres for his final run, as riders sought to position themselves inside the top ten in case of rain tomorrow morning.
Morning leader Andrea Iannone had to settle for third in the afternoon (+0.319s) after also choosing new medium-soft rubber at the end of the session.
Andrea Dovizioso made it three Ducatis in the top four with a lap 0.424s behind team-mate Lorenzo, on new soft tyres front and rear.
Reigning champion and 2018 title leader Marc Marquez - unbeaten at Sachsenring for the last eight seasons – took a different approach.
The Repsol Honda rider didn't try any soft tyres this afternoon and set what would be the fifth best lap time on medium-medium rubber at the start of the session.
The Spaniard, running the carbon fibre swingarm, put a new hard front tyre for the end of the session, but didn't improve. However, Marquez clearly has time in hand when he fits the soft rubber, which he surprisingly raced to victory last time at Assen.
In need of a greater overnight improvement were the likes of Valentino Rossi, Johann Zarco and Dani Pedrosa.
The trio languished down in 17th, 18th and 20th respectively. Rossi tried new medium-soft tyres at the end, Zarco fitted new medium-soft rubber on his second of three runs, while Pedrosa at least set his best time at the end of a long final run on new medium-soft tyres.
Without that late push, Pedrosa would have been left behind Stefan Bradl, who rode in his first MotoGP session since 2016 after Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli withdrew (after FP1) due to his Assen hand injury.
Meanwhile, completing the overnight top ten behind Marquez will be Maverick Vinales(Movistar Yamaha), rookie Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda), Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Ducati).
Bautista ran at the sharp end for much of the session, before the late shuffle.
Assen runner-up Alex Rins is just outside of the top ten, in eleventh, for Suzuki.
Mika Kallio, making his latest wild-card appearance for KTM, suffered a nasty accident on his sixth lap – running wide at highside and being thrown over the handlebars before bouncing into the airfence.
The Finn was conscious and moving, but clearly dazed as he was taken away on a stretcher for further checks.
