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Lewis Duncan

MotoGP German GP: Bezzecchi tops FP2, Marquez involved in massive smash

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.

Takaaki Nakagami, Team LCR Honda (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

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.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

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 Italy Marco Bezzecchi Ducati 25 1'20.271     163.471
2 Spain Jorge Martin Ducati 31 1'20.311 0.040 0.040 163.389
3 Spain Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 17 1'20.352 0.081 0.041 163.306
4 Italy Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 30 1'20.371 0.100 0.019 163.267
5 Australia Jack Miller KTM 29 1'20.420 0.149 0.049 163.168
6 France Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 26 1'20.623 0.352 0.203 162.757
7 Italy Luca Marini Ducati 31 1'20.639 0.368 0.016 162.725
8 Italy Enea Bastianini Ducati 30 1'20.657 0.386 0.018 162.688
9 Spain Alex Marquez Ducati 30 1'20.671 0.400 0.014 162.660
10 South Africa Brad Binder KTM 30 1'20.765 0.494 0.094 162.471
11 Italy Fabio Di Giannantonio Ducati 19 1'20.799 0.528 0.034 162.403
12 Spain Augusto Fernandez KTM 29 1'20.818 0.547 0.019 162.364
13 Portugal Miguel Oliveira Aprilia 19 1'20.862 0.591 0.044 162.276
14 France Johann Zarco Ducati 21 1'20.875 0.604 0.013 162.250
15 Spain Maverick Viñales Aprilia 24 1'20.885 0.614 0.010 162.230
16 Italy Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 25 1'21.122 0.851 0.237 161.756
17 Spain Raúl Fernández Aprilia 21 1'21.857 1.586 0.735 160.303
18 Spain Marc Marquez Honda 20 1'22.141 1.870 0.284 159.749
19 Germany Jonas Folger KTM 25 1'22.905 2.634 0.764 158.277
20 Japan Takaaki Nakagami Honda 3 1'23.950 3.679 1.045 156.307
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