Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez extended his advantage over the pack to four-tenths of a second in today’s second practice at Barcelona as title rivals Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales struggle for pace.
Marquez used a hard front/soft rear combination to set a 1’44.295 to move further ahead after this morning’s drying session as Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo - who is suffering with chatter - put in a 1’44.700 for second place with medium front and soft rear tyres.
Monster Yamaha’s Jonas Folger opted for a medium rear to set his 1’44.839 for third place and the young German was the first of the M1 contenders as team-mate Johann Zarco was in seventh place.
But it was a relative disaster for the factory riders. Neither Valentino Rossi or series leader Maverick Vinales took part in the test here a couple of weeks ago and it is evident. The Doctor is eight-tenths off the pace in tenth while Vinales, who was running wide and lacking grip front and rear, was 16th and 1.515s off the pace.
Mugello winner Andrea Dovizioso finished in fourth with a soft rear to set a 1’44.883 while Danilo Petrucci is still on the same form that saw him bag third in Italy and he finished in fifth with a 1’44.890.
Local boy Tito Rabat followed Dani Pedrosa around for a couple of laps and set a 1’44.922 to actually end ahead of the factory RC213V in sixth. Zarco was also quicker than Pedrosa who ended the day in eighth and eight-tenths off the pace.
Alvaro Bautista bounced back from an embarrassing crash at the final chicane to end in ninth place. He took too much kerb and went down and then, as he tried to get going again, fell off the side of the bike when a marshal let go too early.
Rossi completed the top ten and will get an automatic place in qualifying two should it rain tomorrow morning as it did this morning. Hector Barbera fell but recovered to end in 11th place, one ahead of Scott Redding.
Andrea Iannone, Aleix Espargaro and Loris Baz completed the top 15 with Sam Lowes 20th and 2.387s off the pace while Bradley Smith finished in 23rd.
