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Phillip Island MotoGP: Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro tops Friday

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro edged Marc Marquez by just 0.005 seconds in what could prove to be a decisive second MotoGP practice session at Phillip Island

Friday's second 45-minute session was run in sunny conditions, making it a crucial shootout for Q2 slots ahead of an expected shift in the weather on Saturday.

Times quickly dipped under Marquez's practice one benchmark, Espargaro jumping to the top at the 10-minute mark with a 1m29.225s.

Remarkably, Espargaro's early time proved good enough for top spot. Marquez did his best to chase down the Aprilia rider, going second quickest with a 1m29.307s, before finding more time on his final run at the end of the session.

But the Honda rider's 1m29.230s fell 0.005s short of Espargaro's best lap.

Title contender Andrea Dovizioso was third quickest, and right among those to have safeguarded themselves against the changing weather with a 1m29.322s.

Last year's Australian Grand Prix winner Cal Crutchlow did likewise with his 1m29.329s just 90 seconds from the end of the session.

Maverick Vinales finished fifth, despite a high-speed crash 25 minutes into the session.

The Yamaha rider lost the front end heading into Hayshed, forcing a change of leathers and a change of bike for the final 15 minutes.

He didn't improve in the final scramble, but his 1m29.423s was still good enough to leave him with a provisional spot in Q2.

Jack Miller continued his impressive day on home soil, going sixth quickest with a 1m29.466s.

Andrea Iannone was next, ahead of Johann Zarco and Dani Pedrosa.

Pol Espargaro was 10th, last of those to already have a foot in Q2 should the weather deteriorate overnight.

Jorge Lorenzo is the first of the big names that will need to improve on Saturday to avoid Q2, the Ducati rider finishing up 11th quickest.

Valentino Rossi heads into Saturday in the same position, having only been 12th quickest on the Yamaha.

FP2 times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m29.225s - 20
2 Marc Marquez Honda 1m29.230s 0.005s 21
3 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m29.322s 0.097s 19
4 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m29.329s 0.104s 21
5 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m29.423s 0.198s 20
6 Jack Miller MVDS Honda 1m29.466s 0.241s 23
7 Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1m29.604s 0.379s 20
8 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha 1m29.667s 0.442s 17
9 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m29.702s 0.477s 22
10 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m29.760s 0.535s 22
11 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 1m29.820s 0.595s 19
12 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m29.977s 0.752s 23
13 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati 1m29.987s 0.762s 20
14 Bradley Smith KTM 1m30.046s 0.821s 21
15 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m30.085s 0.860s 23
16 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati 1m30.140s 0.915s 20
17 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 1m30.269s 1.044s 21
18 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati 1m30.274s 1.049s 16
19 Tito Rabat MVDS Honda 1m30.546s 1.321s 24
20 Sam Lowes Aprilia 1m30.682s 1.457s 15
21 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati 1m30.777s 1.552s 17
22 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati 1m31.688s 2.463s 15
23 Broc Parkes Tech3 Yamaha 1m32.152s 2.927s 19


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