Jorge Martin fastest as Aleix Espargaro misses out on top ten after second crash
As Francesco Bagnaia led an early Ducati 1-2 ahead of Marc Marquez in third, GASGAS Tech Factory Racing officially confirmed their 2023 MotoGP line-up, with Augusto Fernandez joining Pol Espargaro.
Despite showing early promise, Marquez made a quick return to pit lane as he was bumped down to fifth by Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro.
Continuing his mixed Friday at the Aragon MotoGP, Espargaro suffered a second crash of the day after going down at turn 14.
A corner known for front-end crashes, that’s exactly what happened to the Aprilia rider.
Lacking pace in FP1, Maverick Vinales bounced back immediately in FP2 as he went quickest on combined times from Bagnaia during the opening stint.
A time of 1:48.842s was set by the Spaniard which was just 0.011s quicker than the Italian. In third, Quartararo was only +0.031s off top spot.
After using the standard 2022 Honda during this morning’s FP1, Marquez was seen using the new Kalex swingarm in FP2.
Also liking the new swingarm was Takaaki Nakagami, with the LCR Honda rider just one place behind Marquez in seventh.
Trying to push on the pace with just over ten minutes remaining, Quartararo ran off-track at turn12.
With most of the field electing not to set a time attack run in FP1, the closing stages of FP2 were drastically different as the entire field began to find improvements.
Nakagami was the first rider to start lighting up the timing screens, however, the Japanese rider lost time in sectors three and four which resulted in him going fifth quickest.
Unlike Nakagami, Alex Rins did not lose time in the latter part of the lap as he went quickest, before Martin and Quartararo overhauled the home favourite.
Marquez was the next rider who looked set to claim top spot, however, the six-time MotoGP champion lost three tenths in the final corner after momentarily losing the rear of his RC213V.
