Miller nudges Nakagami off Friday top spot as tumble drops Mir outside top ten
For the second weekend in succession Jack Miller has topped the timesheets at the close of Friday play after slotting in the quickest lap of the day in Valencia at the behest of Takaaki Nakagami.
The Australian led the way in wet conditions a week ago at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, but would go on to repeat the feat today in drier conditions to give Ducati and the Pramac Racing team a welcome filip ahead of the penultimate round of the 2020 MotoGP season.
His efforts in the closing minutes were enough to topple FP1 pace setter Nakagami from the summit, the Japanese rider nonetheless looking quick again on the LCR Honda as he proved the filling in a Pramac Ducati sandwich ahead of Pecco Bagnaia in third.
In a year that has seen nine different races winners across only 12 races, an entire top five filled with riders yet to step foot on the top spot in 2020 appears like an omen, with Pol Espagraro coming into fourth position on the KTM and Johann Zarco turning in the fifth best time on the Avintia bike.
Andrea Dovizioso completed the top six on the best of the factory Ducatis, ahead of newly confirmed Yamaha 2021 MotoGP test rider Cal Crutchlow and leading Petronas SRT Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli, the only rider in the top ten not to improve his lap time from FP1.
On an indifferent day for the top title contenders, Joan Mir suffered a rare off with a slip at Turn 4, the champion-elect only 12th best and needing a step forward on Saturday morning. Alex Rins, by contrast, is inside the provisional Q2 placings in ninth place, just ahead of Maverick Vinales.
Elsewhere, Fabio Quartararo endured a low key session to end his day an uncustomary lowly 16th place, while Alex Marquez came down twice from the Repsol Honda to en route to 19th quickest.
In all, just 0.7s would cover the top 19, with only Tito Rabat and Lorenzo Savadori failing to get within the margin in 20th and 21st.
