While the afternoon running for the lower classes was affected by wet weather, it had cleared in time for the hour-long second practice for the MotoGP field.
Bezzecchi led the way with a 1m20.271s after snatching the top spot by 0.040 seconds on his final lap.
The session was twice hit by red flags, with the latter coming after a frustrated Marc Marquez lost the front end of his Honda into Turn 1 and wiped out Pramac Ducati’s Zarco as the Frenchman exited the pitlane.
The front end of Zarco’s bike was ripped clean off as Marquez’s bike narrowly avoided hitting him on the body.
Both walked away unscathed, but Marquez faces Q1 in Saturday’s qualifying.
It was a difficult session for Marquez up to that point, a massive moment going through the Turn 11 right-hander prompting him to give his Honda the middle finger as he composed himself.
Improvements on the overall lap times were few and far between, with the first big mover coming from RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira with 25 minutes remaining.
He leapt up to third with a 1m20.461s, before the session was briefly red-flagged for the first time due to a crash for LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.
Nakagami totalled his Honda when he fell at Turn 11 and was taken to the medical centre for checks, though was cleared of any major injuries.
Jorge Martin went fastest of all with 13 minutes remaining after the session had been resumed, the Spaniard clocking a 1m20.461s.
This was beaten by reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia on the factory team Ducati with a 1m20.371s with just under nine minutes remaining.
Following the red flag for the Marquez/Zarco incident, the injured Aleix Espargaro on the factory Aprilia set the pace with a 1m20.352s as the chequered flag was brought out.
But it wasn't enough to stop Bezzecchi from ending the day on top with a 1m20.271s, with Martin and Espargaro completing the top three.
Bagnaia was fourth ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo secured a direct Q2 place in sixth.
Luca Marini on the sister VR46 Ducati was seventh from the factory Ducati of Enea Bastianini, while Alex Marquez was ninth despite a late crash for the Gresini rider.
Zarco completed the top 10 on combined times, denying KTM’s Brad Binder – who finished 10th on the FP2 timesheet – a place in Q2 directly by 0.063s.
Honda was able to get Marc Marquez back on track on his second bike after his scary crash, but mistimed his final run and took the chequered flag before beginning his last lap.
A late crash for Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales left him in 16th, while Raul Fernandez had to go to the medical centre after a terrifying off coming through Turn 11 on his RNF Aprilia saw him slide down the fill.
Cla | Rider | Bike | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | 25 | 1'20.271 | 163.471 | ||
2 | Jorge Martin | Ducati | 31 | 1'20.311 | 0.040 | 0.040 | 163.389 |
3 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 17 | 1'20.352 | 0.081 | 0.041 | 163.306 |
4 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 30 | 1'20.371 | 0.100 | 0.019 | 163.267 |
5 | Jack Miller | KTM | 29 | 1'20.420 | 0.149 | 0.049 | 163.168 |
6 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 26 | 1'20.623 | 0.352 | 0.203 | 162.757 |
7 | Luca Marini | Ducati | 31 | 1'20.639 | 0.368 | 0.016 | 162.725 |
8 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati | 30 | 1'20.657 | 0.386 | 0.018 | 162.688 |
9 | Alex Marquez | Ducati | 30 | 1'20.671 | 0.400 | 0.014 | 162.660 |
10 | Brad Binder | KTM | 30 | 1'20.765 | 0.494 | 0.094 | 162.471 |
11 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | 19 | 1'20.799 | 0.528 | 0.034 | 162.403 |
12 | Augusto Fernandez | KTM | 29 | 1'20.818 | 0.547 | 0.019 | 162.364 |
13 | Miguel Oliveira | Aprilia | 19 | 1'20.862 | 0.591 | 0.044 | 162.276 |
14 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 21 | 1'20.875 | 0.604 | 0.013 | 162.250 |
15 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | 24 | 1'20.885 | 0.614 | 0.010 | 162.230 |
16 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 25 | 1'21.122 | 0.851 | 0.237 | 161.756 |
17 | Raúl Fernández | Aprilia | 21 | 1'21.857 | 1.586 | 0.735 | 160.303 |
18 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 20 | 1'22.141 | 1.870 | 0.284 | 159.749 |
19 | Jonas Folger | KTM | 25 | 1'22.905 | 2.634 | 0.764 | 158.277 |
20 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 3 | 1'23.950 | 3.679 | 1.045 | 156.307 |
View full results |